Driver Fired After Montgomery Students Lost On Bus For 90 Minutes

MONTGOMERY, NJ — A bus driver carrying kindergarten through 2nd grade students from Orchard Hill Elementary School was recently fired after getting lost for 90 minutes on the first day of school.

During a Sept. 11 meeting, School Board President Richard Cavalli broke down in tears, saying he was sorry for her ordeal.

The cause of situation was due to "confusion with the driver and communication challenges that compounded the situation," Board Administrator and Secretary Annette M. Wells said at meeting, which can be seen in the video below beginning at 1:59 minutes.

"In addition, this particular driver did not practice the route prior to the first day of school contrary to our expectations and has been removed from our district for not practicing protocol," Wells said.

Moving forward, the district said it will be implementing changes for the new year, including: adding more staff to handle calls on the first two days of school; and establishing additional policies regarding aftercare arrangements.

During the meeting, Belle Mead mother Jennifer Lafaman recalled the Sept. 6 events (at 5:15 of the video), saying her son's bus was set to arrive at 4:15 p.m.. However, it wasn't until 4:43 p.m. that the district sent out an e-mail stating the buses would be 40 minutes late, Lafaman said.

At 5:15 p.m., after still hearing nothing, a frantic Lafaman called and left messages with the transportation department and her husband. She said her husband then called the school, where he was placed on hold for 20 minutes.

At 5:45 p.m., her husband spoke with the vice principal of Orchard Hill who said they were "unable to get a hold of the driver," Lafaman recounted.

"There is almost 90 minutes of unaccounted time that we still don't have an explanation of where this man was with our babies. Our missing babies," Lafaman said.

Lafaman eventually took matters into her own hands when she got into her car and drove along the bus route until she found the bus not on the route.

"The kids were dripping in sweat. There is no AC and it was 100 degrees that day," Lafaman said.

She added that she was able to walk off the bus with her son and friend's daughter with no questions asked.

"I want to know why there is failure on every level," Lafaman said. "The only people who acted swiftly were the Montgomery Police Department, who I had to call after two hours."

Watch the full board meeting video below with the bus issue being addressed in the beginning:

(Image and video via Montgomery Township School District Board of Education: Board President Richard Cavalli reacting to a parent's ordeal of losing her son for 90 minutes.)

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