Rockaway kindergartner mistakenly placed on school bus in mix-up

ROCKAWAY TOWNSHIP —  A 5-year-old girl was placed on a school bus by mistake, then left at the bus stop where no adult was expecting or waiting for her, so she walked home alone, said her parents.

Waleska and Zachary Falls said they can't believe their kindergartner was placed on the bus in the first place, but "shocked" the driver would leave her at the bus stop all alone.

The parents said their child was scheduled to attend aftercare at her school, Dennis B. O'Brien Elementary School, with her older brother on the afternoon of Sept. 29.   

“My daughter could have been abducted, hit by a car, lost forever, and the adults that failed to protect her walk away with a letter in their files at most,” said Waleska Falls.

Rockaway Township’s policy posted on the Board of Education's website, reads that a kindergartener “will not be let off the bus unless a parent or guardian is present.”

Zachary Falls said his daughter had never been on the school bus before. He said he had driven her to and from school since her first day of school in early September. Luckily he said on that day, he was home to greet her when she arrived unexpectedly. 

“How, after four weeks of the new school year, does a random child get on a bus and the driver doesn’t ask any questions? What if she got off at the wrong stop? My daughter had zero interaction with the bus driver,” Waleska Falls said.   

The system failed in this case because of a breakdown in communication between the school, the Rockaway Township Transportation Department and aftercare providers, wrote Dennis B. O'Brien Elementary School's Principal Chris Marangon in an email to the Falls family.

Superintendent Greg McGann would not discuss specifics, but said: “We take all of these issues seriously and address them appropriately. The safety of our students is our number one priority.” 

So what went wrong?

Based on information shared with the family by the principal, an outdated list of bused students was used rather than the tag on the child's backpack. 

The school uses tags on backpacks to identify which students attend aftercare, according to the parents. The tag on their child's backpack includes her name and information that she is to attend aftercare Monday through Friday. 

The outdated student bus list used by the teacher and generated by the transportation department also listed their child's name, according to the principal's letter to the family.

The 5-year-old's name was originally on the list of students to be bused home every Friday, her parents said, but on Sept. 8 they said they sent a note informing the school she would not be taking the bus, and instead attend aftercare Monday through Friday.

The note did not reach the transportation department, the parents said they were told by the principal.

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“She just blindly followed the list even though she was taking her to aftercare for a month,” Zachary Falls said of the teacher. “I would have thought she would have had a little common sense to at least double check with the office.”  

Zachary Falls said he likes the principal's quick response to the family and willingness to establish new protocols for the school to follow on the same day the issue was presented to him .

In the email to the family, the principal said he had a "discussion with the teacher about accountability for students,” Marangon said.

Marangon also told the parents a kindergarten assistant has been placed in charge of transferring all aftercare students from the classroom to an aftercare staff member. 

McGann contradicted this however and said there are "no changes being made locally.”

“For many years, the district practice, as in many districts, has been to drop Kindergarten students off of buses when a parent is present,“ said McGann.

Neither the district, school board members or officials in the transportation department would comment on how drivers handle situations where an adult does not meet a kindergartner at the bus stop.

“A simple couple of questions of ‘What is your name? Are you on the right bus? What grade are you in?’ would have been sufficient to identify my daughter as too young to get off the bus alone.  Then she would have been returned to school and I would have been notified,” Waleska Falls said.

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What is the policy for dropping off kindergartners?

McGann said drivers are aware of the district's policy to not leave kindergartners at bus stops alone.

Drivers, while undergoing training, are told of the policy, which is also included in their handbook, McGann said. “Reminders are provided throughout the school year.” 

The district has not responded to questions on whethfer or not any action has been taken against the bus driver.

David Saenz Jr., press secretary for the New Jersey Department of Education, said “local districts are responsible for transporting students, including in and out of bus stops.”

There is no statewide law in New Jersey that requires an adult to be present at school bus stops when younger students are dropped off.

“Many districts adopt the practice of not dropping off kindergarten students unless there is an adult present at the bus stop to receive them, but this is typically a practice, not an official written policy,” said René Rovtar, Superintendent of Schools in neighboring Montville.

Denville schools require an adult to be present when pre-kindergarten through first grade students are dropped off, said Superintendent Steven Forte.

Email: myers@northjersey.com