Exclusive: Freeport 9-year-old dropped off miles from home after bus mix-up
Wilkins Pena says his heart "literally felt like it was going to stop" when his daughter’s school bus pulled up Tuesday afternoon — and she wasn’t on it.
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A Freeport family says a frightening school bus mix-up left a 9-year-old girl lost and alone miles from home -on her first day of school.
Wilkins Pena says his heart "literally felt like it was going to stop" when his daughter’s school bus pulled up Tuesday afternoon — and she wasn’t on it.
The fifth grader had just started at Atkinson Intermediate School in Freeport. Instead of arriving home safely, she accidentally boarded the wrong bus and was dropped off on the opposite side of town, about two miles from her house.
Without a cellphone and unsure where she was, she was left stranded, crying and alone.
“Just thinking about her somewhere that I don’t know where she was in that frantic situation — that’s what caused more of the heartbreak,” said Pena.
Fortunately, a good Samaritan spotted the girl in distress and brought her home safely.
“It could have gone horribly wrong,” Pena said. “Thank God there was a good Samaritan who saw her in distress.”
According to Pena, his daughter had a tag on her backpack clearly marked with her address, bus route and designated bus stop. He says that detail makes the incident even more frustrating.
“This shouldn’t happen to anybody,” he said.
In response, Freeport School District Interim Superintendent Alice Kane released a statement saying:
“The district has several protocols in place regarding bus safety and procedures, and we will be reviewing these procedures thoroughly to determine appropriate next steps and prevent issues like this from happening.”
For now, Pena says he plans to drive his daughter to and from school whenever possible — at least until he’s confident that she’ll be safe taking the bus again. He confirmed she did take the bus home the day after the incident.
