Bus Stop Mix-Up Sends Student With Special Needs To Baltimore

SILVER SPRING, MD — Montgomery County officials say a student with special needs ended up all the way in Baltimore after a bus stop mix-up Wednesday, Dec. 12. That left him roughly 40 miles from his home.

The student, who attends Rockville High School for its special needs program, was supposed to be dropped off at home in Silver Spring that afternoon, said Gboyinde Onijala, a Montgomery County Public Schools spokeswoman.

According to Onijala, the Rockville High School student boarded the correct bus between 2:30 and 3 p.m. It is unclear, however, if the bus driver, a substitute, skipped the student's stop or if the student didn't get off at the right time.

Onijala said the school bus also travels to Baltimore, where it drops off another student with special needs. The second student, however, was not on the bus that afternoon, she added.

When the student from Silver Spring didn't get off the bus in Baltimore, the driver called Montgomery County Police and the county public school's department of transportation.

The student's parents, who didn't know their son was in Baltimore, had already filed a missing persons report, police said.

Once the school system realized what had happened, the parents were able to pick up their child in Baltimore.

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