SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- The parents of a five-year-old kindergartner are livid after a San Diego Unified School District bus driver dropped the child off alone at the wrong spot, miles from their home, at a busy intersection on the community of Southcrest
Tuesday, Yasmina Thomas got on the school bus at Longfellow Magnet School in Clairemont to go home, her parents said.
The bus driver dropped Yasmina off alone, about 15-minutes away from her home, at the busy corner of 38th Street and National Avenue.
“She got on with her bus pass, and I don’t know what happened. I guess the driver didn’t check and double check that she was on the bus, what stop she got off at,” her mother, Aminah Walker, said.
“I felt scared because I was waiting for her to arrive at her normal bus stop,” her father, William Thomas, said.
A parent at the stop noticed something was wrong and called the school district.
A district employee called Walker.
“If it had not been for that parent I don’t know what could have happened to my daughter. She could have been hit by a car. There are people over here in this alley that are drug addicts. She could have been kidnapped,” Walker said
Dad, who was waiting at the correct bus stop, rushed to pick Yasmina up.
“I’ve been talking to a supervisor in transportation, and she’s told me the driver didn’t do anything wrong, and we can’t see anything the driver did wrong, so to me it’s kind of being swept under the rug,” William Thomas said.
Walker said she knows the bus driver did something wrong because she also happens to be a San Diego Unified School District bus driver.
“I would never, never, never drop a student and just drive off, especially in this neighborhood, without seeing a parent or someone responsible to pick up a student,” Walker said while standing at the corner in Southcrest where the bus driver left her daughter.
Walker said she does not know the driver who dropped her child off.
“I’m very upset. I’m livid. I don’t know why this happened,” Walker said.
She and her husband, who said he is a SDUSD custodian, want the district to admit wrongdoing.
“To take responsibility for this situation,” Walker said.
A SDUSD spokesperson emailed 10News a statement, which reads:
The district has been made aware of this situation and is reviewing it thoroughly. The safety of all students riding San Diego Unified school buses is a top priority for the district.
As always, if parents have questions or concerns regarding their student’s transportation they are encouraged to call district transportation services at 858-496-8792. Parents and employees may also report any concerns to the district’s Quality Assurance Office at 619-725-7211.
