2 Children Taken to Wrong Bus Stops; School System Investigates

Wake County school officials said they are investigating why two children were dropped off at the wrong bus stops recently.

Posted 1:39 a.m. Aug 9, 2007 — Updated 12:53 p.m. Aug 9, 2007

RALEIGH, N.C. — Wake County school system officials said Wednesday that they are investigating why two children were dropped off at the wrong bus stops recently.

Four-year-old Jordan Stanton’s father said the driver failed to stop at his son’s bus stop. He said his son was found blocks from home.

"He got off at the first bus stop, and nobody checked," Mike Stanton said of his son. "It really upsets me there's not better checks and balances. I'd like some answers. I really would. This is not acceptable at all."

Maria Campos said a similar thing happened to her five-year-old son, Alex, this week. He was found seven miles from home, she said.

"You know how they talk about how school buses are so safe, well, this is every parent's nightmare," Campos said.

Both boys are OK, and school officials defined the problems as isolated incidents.

"I don't think it's indicative of a system-wide problem," said Don Haydon, facilities director for the school district.

Haydon said the first few weeks of school can be tough as bus drivers and students learn the bus routes. But with about 70,000 students riding buses, he said it's critical the district gets everything right.

"It's a lot of pieces to put together," he said. "We do have ongoing training."

The district expects to be short about 70 bus drivers when the traditional-schools calendar begins in three weeks. Haydon said substitute drivers and supervisors would be used to make up the difference.

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