LI Incident Was Miscommunication With School Bus Companies: District

RONKONKOMA, NY — An incident in which a bus driver unknown to students approached them in Ronkonkoma was determined to be a miscommunication between school bus providers, Connetquot School District officials said Tuesday.

In a letter to parents, Schools Superintendent Lynda Adams said that an investigation with Suffolk Transportation Company and Suffolk police found that the incident was the result of a miscommunication between transportation providers about individual bus routes.

"As you know, our district maintains a fleet of school buses that are largely responsible for the transportation of Connetquot students and contracts with outside providers, (i.e. Suffolk Transportation) to support individual services as needed," Adams wrote.

The police have also closed their investigation into the matter, according to Adams.

"Thankfully, yesterday’s incident did not pose any danger to the safety or security of our school community," she wrote. "For that, we are relieved. Please be assured, that we will continue to communicate with our district bus drivers and our contracted provider to ensure our transportation services operate as smoothly as possible throughout the rest of the school year."

"As always, we thank those for bringing this matter to our attention and allowing the incident to be fully investigated," Adams concluded.

In a statement to parents Monday, officials said a male driver approached the students at about 7:30 a.m. on Baeck Street, asked for one student by name, and then requested that they get on the bus, telling them that they would get to school faster with him, News 12 reported.

The students refused because they did not recognize the driver or the bus, which had "Route 113" written on the side, and the man drove away; a few minutes later, the students' assigned district bus picked them up, the outlet reported.

The driver of the minibus is described as a middle-aged, dark-skinned male with an accent, according to the outlet.