Boston mother demands answers after son left on school bus for hours
By Brandon Truitt
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BOSTON (WBZ) — A Boston mother wants answers after her first grader was left on the school bus for several hours. Ronda Johnson and her two kids just moved to Massachusetts last month. “I have really high anxiety. I am scared. I wasn’t scared at first,” Johnson said.
Her boys, ages 13 and six, had their first day of classes in Boston last week. First grader Justice was eager to ride the bus home for the first time. Justice was due home around 3:30. Johnson was waiting curbside in a chair. Thirty minutes pass, then an hour.
The new app for parents to track their students’ buses wasn’t working. So, Johnson says she called the school, then the bus dispatch center. She would spend the next hour and 15 minutes getting the runaround with no clear answers.
“She says the bus app is not working,” Johnson said. “OK so where is the bus? Where is my child? I was informed he got on a bus where is he? She says, let me check the yard.”
The bus yard. Johnson was placed on hold again while she was told dispatch was searching the lot. After another 20 or so minutes, Johnson says dispatch told her they found Justice, but would not where. He was dropped off after 7 p.m.
“I run on the bus, and I am running down the aisle looking for my son. He is passed out in the seat with a whole puddle of drool,” Johnson said. “My baby was on that bus for like four hours.”
Johnson says the driver apologized but provided zero answers. For its part Boston Public Schools says, “the safety of our students on yellow school buses is our top priority, and we will work with our contractor to get to the bottom of what happened and ensure that any appropriate follow-up action is taken.”
For Johnson, it’s about better communication and a commitment the district will keep her children safe.
“Is my child happy, is he alive, is he good? Four hours of my son being on a bus is unacceptable,” Johnson said.
Johnson said her son is now too anxious to ride the bus. She has been leaving work early to pick him up after school. Johnson was told there was no attendant on the bus due to staffing shortages.
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