Crown Heights School Bus Driver Barred After Dropping Off Students Hours Late

CROWN HEIGHTS— Six nonverbal students on the autism spectrum arrived more than four hours late at their Brooklyn school after a substitute driver got lost, according to a city investigation.

The students, who attend P.S. 289 in Crown Heights, were supposed to arrive between 8:20 and 9 a.m. on Dec. 16.

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The bus did not reach the school until 1:25 p.m., according to a report by the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District.

School officials could not determine the bus's location for much of the morning as they sought updates from Consolidated Transit, the company operating the route.

The school contacted the city's Department of Education and the New York Police Department.

At 11:45 a.m., a dispatcher told school officials the driver had gotten lost and expected to arrive within about 15 minutes. The bus arrived roughly an hour and 25 minutes later.

The dispatcher also blamed a malfunctioning live global positioning system tracker for the school's inability to locate the bus.

But investigators found the tracking system had been working, according to Special Commissioner Anastasia Coleman.

The report also found the bus matron, who had nearly 20 years of experience, made no effort to communicate with the driver or contact the school during the incident.

One student arrived at school having "urinated on herself and removed her diaper and leggings, with her dress still on," according to the investigation.

The report identified the driver as a substitute assigned to the route that day.

Both employees were suspended immediately and placed on administrative leave, according to the Department of Education.

The company said the employees cannot operate buses or interact with students while on leave.

Investigators also assigned both employees codes that effectively bar them from working for Department of Education vendors in the future.

The report noted, however, the codes do not appear in records available to outside contractors, including private schools.