6 students dropped off in dark mid-route after mistakenly boarding wrong school bus

It was an easy enough mistake, says Fredericton-area mom Sylvia Thorpe. 

A fill-in bus driver mistakenly picked up Thorpe's three children — and three others — along the Wilsey Road in Rusagonis shortly after 7 a.m. Thursday.

"It's very understandable," Thorpe said later in the day. "I mean, mistakes happen. None of us parents were upset that the kids got on the wrong bus." 

But what came next was inexcusable, she said. 

After the error was discovered, the driver left the six children, ranging from grades 3 to 9, in the dark on the side of the road. 

"He left them on the side of a road in a subdivision that their morning bus doesn't even normally go on," Thorpe said.

Substitute driver's first time on route

"Two of these kids were in elementary school and I can only imagine how scared they must have been to get on the wrong bus, have a strange bus driver, and then him just ditch them on the side of the road in the dark," she said,  adding the area is close to the regional landfill, and bears are "pretty active right now."

In an effort to see how such a thing could have happened, Thorpe immediately started making phone calls. She was told the driver was a substitute from outside the area. 

Kelly Schriver's nine-year-old son, Owen, was also mistakenly picked up. 

She said the initial pickup is understandable given the circumstances. After all, several buses  — francophone and anglophone — pick up students in the area. 

The six children were all waiting at their usual stop for an Anglophone West School District bus. Usually, the francophone district bus passes by around the same time as their bus — and occasionally, when their bus breaks down, said Schriver, the kids get picked up by a francophone district bus driven by their regular driver. 

On Thursday, when the kids got on the francophone bus, Schriver noticed it wasn't nearly as full as it usually is. That's when she noticed it wasn't their regular driver at the wheel. 

By this time, however, the bus was already pulling away. 

Schriver wasn't really concerned. After all, it was a school bus, so she assumed the children were going to be safely dropped off at their schools eventually. 

She was so unconcerned about it that she continued on to work. 

"I said, 'They're on a bus, they're gonna get to school. There, it's an easy-peasy mistake."

She never dreamed the driver would just drop them off in the dark farther along the route. 

I want to make sure that safety is the number one priority because that's what they advertise.- Parent Kelly Schriver

On Friday, Francophone South was asked for an interview. Jean-Luc Thériault, the district's director of strategic relations, provided an emailed statement. 

"We are aware of the situation, which is unfortunately the result of human error," Thériault wrote.

"A substitute driver on this route for the first time mistakenly picked up students from the Anglophone West School District."

Thériault said the driver let the students off "at a stop a little further along the ASD-W route." 

He said the children were picked up by an anglophone district bus less than 20 minutes later. 

"Since buses from several school travel on the same roads, this kind of exceptional situation has unfortunately occurred before," wrote Thériault.

"The safety of the students is a priority for us, and we are truly sorry that this situation has caused stress and anxiety to them and their parents."

Drivers are frequently reminded to be "vigilant and cautious when boarding and disembarking students." he said. "This situation has prompted us to review and improve our training courses."

Parents want to avoid repeat

Schriver said the incident frightened her son, and she wants to ensure it never happens again. 

She said the driver had options — radio an anglophone bus in the area, call a supervisor, return the students to their original stop, or deliver them to their schools. 

Anything other than what he actually did.

"I want to make sure that safety is the number one priority because that's what they advertise. But there was no protocols followed."

Like Thorpe, she thought of wildlife in the area.

"We have bears around. We have coyotes around. We have creeps around. Anything could happen to those kids." 

Not satisfied with district response

Schriver said she's not content with the district's response. She said she wants the driver held accountable.

She said he stopped at the same stop on Friday morning. 

"So for me, he didn't learn from his mistake. I don't care if it was two minutes or 20 minutes. No kid should be let off the bus in an unknown-to-them location."

Thorpe isn't satisfied with the district response either. She said the bus driver "failed" the children.

"I am certainly not satisfied with the fact that there is no actual solution at this time," Thorpe said."What's to say it won't happen again next week with someone else? We know this isn't the first time such incidents have occurred this year.

"So there is no comfort at all at this point. I still feel like we are being blown off more or less."