WINONA, Minn. — Nobody bothered to call police that a Winona school bus went missing for two hours with a load of youngsters on the first day school. There were a couple parent calls that buses were late, a police spokesperson said. But when officers went to the bus company, First Student, they were told only that there was some sort of delays with some buses — the kind of confusion typical on the first runs at the start of the school year. Whether this was before or after First Student became aware that one bus was lost and out of radio contact and that the company had launched a search. At no point, however, did the company, ask city police or sheriff’s office for police help to find bus. The bus had picked up grade-schoolers at the Rollingstone charter school, 10 miles out of town, and the driver, new to the job got off route and became lost. Apparently the driver didn’t know how to use his onboard radio connection to the First Student dispatcher or the system was nonfunctional. Also, the oboard Zonar tracking system wasn’t working. The bus was located two hours later by a frantic mother who criss-crossed every street she could think of until she found the bus and the load of frightened children. Her own daughter recounted that she had been heckled and abused by other kids during the ride and hid under a seat to escape the torment. The mother didn’t report what happened to police or to First Student. Instead she posted a video online of her 6-year-old daughter sobbing uncontrollably about what happened. When the mother had found the bus, she said, a First Student agent had just arrived, but, she said, the situation was hardly under control. One child, she said, fled the bus into the street with the driver and the First Student agent giving chase but unable to catch him. “That child easily would have been hit if there was a car coming.,” said the ither, Jasmine Brown, in an account with the video of her daughter’s trauma.
Earlier: First Student mystery: How do you lose a school bus?
Earlier: Mom: Child mercilessly bullied on late, late school bus
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Official responses shed little light on the facts of what happened: Why? How?
Brenna Rudisill, First Student corporate spokesperson, in Cincinnati: “The safety of the students we transport is a responsibility we take very seriously. We understand, and share, the concern over this incident that was brought to our attention. We are working collaboratively with the school district to investigate.”
Casey Indra, transportation director, Winona Schools: “Student safety remains our top priority, and that is extended to the school bus. This is a shared responsibility among First Student, Winona schools (including private and charter schools), families and students. We expect our students to treat one another with respect on the school bus just as they would in the classroom, in the cafeteria, or on the playground, and we trust that our families are repeating the same message at home.”