New Bus Driver Leaves Webster Elementary Kids at Bus Stop

Eight Webster Elementary School students were picked up by the wrong school bus Tuesday, then dropped off at a bus stop instead of being taken to their school.

A driver who had worked for First Student — the busing company that provides transportation in the Urbandale school district — had been with the company for a month, according to the Des Moines Register.

Superintendent Doug Stilwell said the driver was on the Rolling Green Elementary route and accidentally picked up children who attend Webster Elementary.

When the driver realized the mistake she radioed for instructions and was told to drop off Rolling Green students, and then take the others to Webster, Stilwell told the paper.

But the driver didn’t follow those orders and dropped the children off at another bus stop where a child was waiting for a different bus with a grandparent.

“It was not the best situation but it has been addressed with that particular bus driver,” Stilwell told the Register.

Jessica Tracey told the paper her 6-year-old son hasn't ridden the bus since the mishap.

Tracey immediately called the school when her son told her about the incident. She said she shouldn’t have had to hear it from him – she should’ve been notified.

The busing company said in a statement that the driver misunderstood the instruction to take the students to their respective schools.

The company said the children were taken to school safely by another bus.