DAYTON — Dayton Public Schools has responded after a child was found wandering when he got dropped off at the wrong bus stop last week.
>>PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Child found wandering after being dropped off at wrong stop; mother wants answers
As News Center 7 previously reported, a mother told us that someone found her seven-year-old son wandering on the street after getting off a school bus.
Toinett Trotter said that her seven-year-old son, Santino, is a first grader at Fairview Elementary School.
She said that he takes the school bus home with his older brother every day because of his special needs.
On Friday, her older son stayed at school, and she said the school never called her asking if it was okay to send her son home on the bus alone.
>>At least 1 hurt after suspected stabbing in Sidney
Dayton Public Schools released a statement Tuesday to News Center 7 from Superintendent Dr. David Lawrence about what happened.
“On Friday, March 8th, a Fairview Elementary student reported that he should not ride the bus in the afternoon. Per District policy, any changes to a student’s transportation plan must be communicated to the school by the parent or guardian. The school reached out to the parent multiple times to try to confirm whether the student should stay at school in the afternoon. The school was unable to make contact with the parent, and as a result, the student rode the bus home as usual. Our records indicate that the bus driver accidentally missed the usual bus stop and dropped the student off about a block away. An adult is not required to be present at the stop for this student. However, the driver should have driven back to the original stop location before letting the student off the bus.
“The safety of all students is our utmost priority. The district always strives to provide safe and reliable transportation to students. Thankfully, this student was found safe and was quickly returned to Fairview. We would like to emphasize that an open line of communication between families and schools is crucial to prevent such occurrences from happening in the future.”
We will continue to follow this story.