School bus mix-ups mount

School buses delivered several children to the wrong destinations in recent weeks, but school officials say those incidences are isolated and are being corrected.

In one of the cases, Nicole Cortez said she was unable to locate her 5-year-old daughter, Amani, when she arrived to pick her up at her kindergarten classroom at Desert Mesa Elementary School, and then learned her daughter was placed on a bus to return home.

The bus dropped Amani off at Sierra Pacific Mobile Home Park on Highway 95, where Amani became confused and began to cry, Cortez said. Classmates, seeing how upset she was, escorted her to the park's office. They contacted the school, and Amani was returned to the school within about an hour and three-quarters, she said.

Amani's teacher had a list of the students' names and the modes of transportation they were to use to get home, Cortez explained. She left instructions her daughter was to be picked up by herself or Amani's grandmother.

Amani's class is an English as a second language class and her daughter has limited English ability, Cortez explained. Before dismissal, Amani's teacher asked the ones who were to take the bus home to raise their hands. Since most of the children raised their hands, Amani did as well and at dismissal her teacher accompanied her and the others to board the bus.

"The teacher apologized, she assumed my daughter was supposed to take the bus when she raised her hand. She said it wasn't going to happen again," Cortez said.

"This worries me that they can't learn from their own regulations," she said.

Eula Baumgarner, Desert Mesa principal, said that when she met with Cortez in her office, her daughter had already been located and a school vehicle was dispatched to retrieve Amani. The school now has additional staff to accompany kindergarten students to ensure they are delivered to proper care at dismissal, she said.

"Of course we're upset about this situation," Baumgarner said. "Her daughter got in the wrong line, yet it's not her fault, she's only in kindergarten."

In a similar but unrelated incident, Chris Larsen, an Arizona Western College math professor, came upon a 6-year-old Rolle School student walking alone on Frontage Road after being dropped off by a bus on Monday afternoon. Larsen said he was concerned for the child's safety and offered him a ride.

The student was wearing a name tag and Larsen phoned the school but was unable to get a response. So he contacted the District 1 office, which then contacted the child's father. Larsen drove the child to his home and waited for his father to return.

Larsen said the child's father told him his son was not supposed to take the bus home but spend the afternoon in day care. The child's father was unavailable for comment.

"We have bus drivers who are clearly not trained and teachers who weren't paying attention to what students should be doing," Larsen said.

Rolle School Principal Mark Cunningham said the school was aware of the situation and acknowledged it was a mistake placing this child on the bus.

"As important as education is, it is vital we make sure that children arrive to school and return to their homes safely," Cunningham said. "Supervision is the key and steps have been taken to see this mistake will not occur again."

Another child, from Carver School, was also taken to the wrong address Monday afternoon.

Barbara Major is the parent of a 7-year-old home-schooled student. Her son is autistic and has allergies, so for safety concern, she has him educated through an online course curriculum. Her son had been scheduled to attend Carver School but she had him withdrawn at the end of last year, she said.

According to Major, a school bus driver attempted to drop off a student who uses a wheelchair at her home Monday, thinking it was her son. She convinced the driver that he had misidentified the student and insisted he return the child to school. Major then notified the school as well as the District 1 office.

"I think this is a serious problem with Yuma school districts," Major said. "They need to accept responsibility for children in their care. How does a child go to school and ultimately get delivered to the wrong house?"

The mistake was the result of the list of students' names the bus driver had on his clipboard, according to Debra Drysdale, Carver School principal. She said despite the fact Major withdrew her son from Carver, his name had not been stricken from the list.

Darwin Stiffler, District 1 superintendent, said he is thankful the student was returned home safely but the mistake was corrected as quickly as possible.

"We are grateful to Ms. Major for pointing out the error and redirecting the driver," Stiffler said. "The driver clearly made an error and we are grateful the child made it home safely."

Stiffler added this situation should not happen and there are no excuses. It is the district's job to deliver children home safely and they are quickly identifying situations to correct them.

Earlier this month, Sebastian Cistern, a 6-year-old student of Rio Colorado Elementary School in San Luis, Ariz., became lost and walked across the border after a Gadsden Elementary School District bus dropped him off at the wrong place near the international boundary. The boy was later found and returned safely to his home.

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William Roller can be reached at
wroller@yumasun.com or 539-6858.