Local mom says her son’s bus left school without him, 2 other students

PITTSBURGH — A local mom wants to see change after her son was left behind by the school bus, Wednesday.

She tells Channel 11 the bus took off from Pittsburgh Classical Academy before the 12-year-old and two others could board.

“Around five o’clock, I said ‘something’s wrong,’” Nicole Chaney said. Her son usually gets home by then. “I was afraid. I thought something could’ve happened to him. Maybe someone took him. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think.”

She called the bus company, First Student, and was told he did not get on the afternoon bus. Eventually, she reached her son’s teacher.

“That teacher informed me the school bus had pulled off earlier than they were supposed to and left my son and two students behind.”

Chaney says that teacher told her the bus typically waits for a staff member to give the “all-clear” to leave, but that didn’t happen.

“The school then reached out to the company and let them know three students weren’t on the bus and asked if the driver could turn around. They said they could not turn around and it was up to the school to figure out how these students would get home.”

Chaney is now lobbying for change. She wants more training for drivers and easier access to district transportation officials.

We did reach out to First Student and received the following statement:

Thank you for contacting us. We are reviewing what happened with school administrators and have been in contact with the students’ mother. We understand her concerns and want to make sure her experience does not occur again. Given this is a personnel matter, we are not able to comment further. - Jen Biddinger, Communications Manager.

“My son is autistic and has ADHD. He has a lot going on to the point where I was ready to call the police because I thought he wandered off somewhere.”

Channel 11 also reached out to Pittsburgh Public Schools but we have not heard back.

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