Mother calls for policy change after problems changing school bus

BATON ROUGE – A mother is upset about what happened to her son last week. The 6-year-old did not come home on the bus at his usual time.

“It’s every parent’s worst nightmare,” said Melanie Washington.

Her son, King, is in first grade at Westdale Heights Academic Magnet in East Baton Rouge Parish. His day starts early — the bus comes at 6:30 a.m. and drops him off around 5 p.m. A week ago, Washington watched on her phone as the Airtag she had put in her son's backpack flew to another part of town. It was about the time King usually got home from school.

She called the transport number, but no one answered the phone.

“I’ve been following the Airtag, it’s definitely going in the wrong direction,” Washington said.

She watches as the Airtag moves further across the map. It was just before six o'clock when the Airtag stopped and she called the police.

“Where is my child?” she said.

Police contacted dispatch and found Washington's son on the bus. The bus driver then called Washington's mother.

“I said, 'Just bring my child home immediately,' and he replied, 'We'll be there in about an hour,'” Washington said.

The bus took King home at 7:01 p.m. There have been conflicting reports in Washington about the incident. The East Baton Rouge Parish school system says King was required to change buses, but he did not do so on Monday.

Given King's age and the proximity to the school, Washington was concerned about her son having to change buses before school started and asked questions. She was assured that there would be people at the transfer point to help her son transfer.

“She said there were people at the transfer point who put the children on the bus and there was no problem,” Washington said.

The East Baton Rouge Parish school system says each driver is responsible for getting students off at the transfer point when necessary. In the case of Washington's son, protocol was not followed. It was a substitute bus driver.

Washington said that when she spoke to the bus driver on the phone, he admitted to her that he had not properly checked his bus at the transfer station.

“Is there a procedure to get up and check to see if the kids are sleeping? Did you not check your bus? He said no, and I said that was a problem,” Washington said.

The driver completed the ride and then dropped King off at his home. Washington says more needs to be done to ensure students are accounted for when riding the bus, especially at the transfer point.

“There has to be a change,” she said.

According to EBRPSS, the policy has been reiterated to all bus drivers to ensure this does not happen again. Washington says her trust has been broken and her son will not ride the bus again.