Parents in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, say they were stunned last week when a school bus dropped young children off on the shoulder of Ritchie Highway, one of the busiest roads in the Baltimore suburbs, WBAL-TV (NBC affiliate) reports.
The students, some only 6 years old, were supposed to be dropped off at the door of a nearby aftercare facility, but instead found themselves navigating a 50-mph roadway, two ponds, and a busy parking lot to get there.
Lauren Lathrop’s daughter immediately told the driver she didn’t feel safe getting off. “Please make it make sense that a grown woman is told by a 6-year-old that they feel unsafe, and they still proceed to kick them off the bus,” the station quoted Lathrop as saying, still incredulous. Another parent, Kati Brown, said her son told her afterward that he and his friends ran across the lot as quickly as they could, remembering the safety lessons he had been taught.
Anne Arundel County Public Schools confirmed the mistake and said the problem was resolved after administrators intervened. A change in bus contractors this year led to the confusion, officials explained. On Thursday, the principal rode the route personally to ensure the proper drop-off was made, and the district stated that the new contractor has been instructed to return to the correct aftercare stop.
Even so, parents say they are uneasy that the same driver will remain on the route. They want school officials to review their policies and put safeguards in writing to ensure it can’t happen again. The aftercare center’s owner said staff had not been informed of the change but stepped in to help the children once they saw what happened.
The incident ended without injury, but parents emphasize how much worse it could have been. Ritchie Highway is a well-known state route where dropping children unattended is simply unsafe. While the district has assured families the issue is fixed, the scare serves as a reminder that even routine transportation decisions can carry major safety consequences.
