NEW BRAUNFELS, Texas – In the first week of school for New Braunfels ISD, at least two families have had issues with their child’s bus driver. A 3-year-old pre-K student was left on a bus, and the school did not know until the child’s parent called to notify them that her child did not make it home.
In a separate incident, two elementary kids were told to get off at the wrong school bus stop after telling the driver it wasn’t their stop.
Sheila and Isaac Dimas have multiple kids, two of whom are 7 and 9 years old. They’ve both been riding the school bus for years.
On the third day of school, though, they were riding the bus and said the driver didn’t stop at their bus stop. Once the driver got to the final bus stop on the route, the boys told the driver that it was not their stop. The boys said the driver told them they had to get off the bus and that this was the last stop.
“I was very confused,” one of the kids said. “I was trying to tell them that you skipped our stop and, like, can we go back to the school? He said, no, you cannot. You cannot do that.”
The boys said they were “scared” and “confused.”
They had no cell phone to call home and they didn’t know where they were. They were grateful another boy riding the bus saw the interaction and told them they could go home with him, and his mom would help.
When they got to the third little boy’s house, his mother called the school, and the school contacted the two boys’ moms to let them know what had happened.
“My heart sank,” Sheila said. “We didn’t know who she was, but we are grateful that she was there at the bus stop.”
“The little boy didn’t even know our kids,” their father, Isaac, said. “He just offered assistance.”
Sheila contacted her husband, Isaac, and he rushed to get his kids from the person’s home. Since then, the school has been in contact with the family multiple times.
Sheila told KSAT that the school was “very apologetic” but that she hadn’t heard from the supervisor of the transportation department as of Sunday evening and the incident happened Thursday afternoon.
“I have tried to reach out to her a couple of times, left messages,” Sheila said.
“We need to feel safe, or else why do we send our kids to school? Why don’t we just homeschool them? If I’m going to have to worry about the safety of my children, they have no reason to go to school,” Isaac said.
On Sunday morning, KSAT contacted New Braunfels ISD for a comment on the situation. The district released the following statement on Monday:
NBISD is aware of the situation regarding the transportation department and is actively investigating. We strive to serve our students and families with the highest level of safety every day. The well-being of our students is a top priority of our school district.
Isaac said, “What he did is unacceptable. And I don’t know what the future for him is going to be in this realm, but I don’t even know if I want him to be the bus driver for our route anymore.”
This is one of two incidents KSAT has reported on within the New Braunfels ISD bus system in the first week of school.