WINONA, Minn. — A Winona school bus driver got lost on the first day of school and drove around trying to find his route with a load of students for two hours, a mother wrote online. Worse, said the mother, her kindergarten daughter was touched, tickled, poked and bullied by other students as the driver drove around lost. The mother, waiting to pick up the girl at the end of her first day of school, became alarmed when the bus failed to deliver her daughter on schedule. She went looking. She said she drove up and down every street she could think of in search of the girl. When the mother, Jasmine Brown, found the bus, the girl was traumatized, as shown in a video the mother posted. The girl described a nigtmare of trying to hide in a corner in the back of the bus, but, she said, she couldn’t her tormentors.
Isabella Brown. The 6-year-old telling her mother in uncontrollable tears about being bullied by other students on a school bus. This happened after the driver got lost and was running two hours late. The video, posted Tuesday, has been viewed 14,000 times on Facebook and drawn 150 comments.
Major player. First Student is a major player nationally in the school busing business.
First Student profile
The Winona School District a-has an ongoing contract with First Student to bus students to its high school, middle school and three grade schools. The buses have routes as far out as Rolingstone, Stockton, and Witoka. First Student is an Ohio-based company that operates in 38 states and seven Canadian provinces. The company has 50,500 employees and 44,000 vehicles. The company has passed through numerous corporate owners since being founded in 1999 by the Ryder truck leasing company. In 2021 it became a subsidiary of First Group of Cincinnati in a $3.5 billion deal.
Major player. Furst Student is a major player nationally in the school busing business.