WALDORF, Md. — In regards to a bus driver’s mistake on the first day of school, a parent has spoken out.
“My son goes to Billingsley Elementary in Charles County,” the post from Calvin Battle reads. “I knew when I was worried about my son all day it was for a reason.”
The worry that Battle saw come to fruition is any parents nightmare: his child CJ, 6, was dropped off in the wrong neighborhood. It wasn’t until another vehicle came along and noticed something wrong that the child was brought back to his school.
“He was left crying on the side of the street,” Battle continued. “Bottom line, I or his mother was still not notified that my son was missing. This is a nightmare for any parent, and traumatizing to a 6-year-old baby.”
Charles County Public Schools put out the following statement regarding the situation:
“In speaking with the principal of Billingsley Elementary School, Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) administrators learned that the student was sent home on the correct bus by the classroom teacher in the afternoon at dismissal. The bus driver reportedly dropped the student off at the wrong bus stop in the neighborhood.
Another Billingsley Elementary School bus driver saw the student wandering, looking lost and upset, and pulled over to inquire what happened. This driver then asked the student to board the bus and drove the child back to Billingsley Elementary School. School administrators reached out to the student’s family by phone to explain what happened, and to share that the student was safe and accounted for at the school. The mother arrived at the school to pick up her child, was visibly angry and did not wish to speak with the principal about the situation.
CCPS administrators reached out to the parents this evening to further talk about what happened, and to apologize for what happened to their child at the end of the school day.
We apologize for this situation, to this student and the family. This is not an experience we wish for any of our students, let alone a first-grader. Our transportation administrators are working with our bus contractors and bus drivers to ensure this does not happen to a student again.”