WILLOUGHBY, Ohio — Tiffany Austin trusted the school bus to get her 4-year-old son to preschool safely, but one morning last week, he ended up on the wrong bus.
"I trusted them to make sure that my child is being picked up where he needs to be picked up, and he is getting to school on time with no issues," Austin said.
Every morning, Austin drops her son, Braylon, off at daycare before heading to work. A bus then takes him to Willoughby-Eastlake Preschool. But last Wednesday, that routine hit a roadblock.
Austin said she got a call at work from the daycare owner, who had been called by the school. Braylon was on the wrong bus.
"I immediately left my job and tried to figure out where my son was," Austin said.
According to Austin, the daycare owner knew it was the wrong bus number.
"She was aware it was the wrong bus number, but the bus driver was insisting it's the correct bus and said Braylon got on the wrong bus the day before. That's not true; he got on the correct bus the day before," Austin said.
Austin has a tracker that goes with Braylon, but the 15 minutes spent not knowing his location was alarming for the mom
"My son was misplaced for a short period of time," Austin said.
Austin said she is upset because no one called her directly.
"I'm his mother," Austin said.
Austin said she spoke with the school district and that conversation helped, but she has still not heard from the transportation company.
Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools released a statement in response to the incident:
"Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools contracts with Petermann Transportation to provide all student transportation services. We are aware of the current situation and are working with Petermann as it conducts its investigation. Our students' safety and well-being remain our highest priority," the district said.
Petermann Transportation said:
Based on our investigation, the student was carried onto our bus by a daycare employee who is not affiliated with Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools, without further communication regarding the student's transportation assignment. Our driver did not review the route sheet to verify that the student was boarding the correct bus, which resulted in an error.
The student was transported to a nearby elementary school on the driver's assigned route. Upon realizing the mistake, the driver followed established procedures by contacting dispatch, which immediately worked to notify the student's parent and coordinate appropriate transportation arrangements. The student was then picked up by another bus with an aide present and transported to the assigned preschool. At no time was the student left unattended or unaccounted for.
While the student was placed on the wrong bus, we recognize that an error occurred and take this matter seriously. We remain committed to reinforcing established procedures through ongoing training and communication with our drivers to help ensure students are transported safely and arrive at the correct destination each day.
This story follows an earlier report about a 6-year-old Willoughby-Eastlake student who was dropped off at the wrong location after school.
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