Mother furious after summer school snafu puts 4th grader on bus by mistake

ORANGE, Calif. (KABC) -- The mother of an Orange Unified School District student wants better training and a review of summer school transportation protocols after her son was placed on a bus and dropped off at a stop when he was never supposed to be put on a school bus in the first place.

Miriam Vazquez said her son, 9-year-old Anthony Escalante, had a scary first day of summer school at West Orange Elementary School when it was time to go home.

Vazquez said when she arrived at the school to pick him up, no one knew where the 4th grader was.

"I was just in a panic mode. I said, 'You know what, then I need to get out of here. I need to go look for him. I need to know where he's at. You guys can't assure me something. That's not ok,''" Vazquez said.

She said the school's principal had placed her son on a school bus and was dropped off at a stop located about a half-mile from their home unattended.

"I haven't been dropped off by myself and I kind of was scared that no one was there," Anthony said. "I was just there, just walking to my house and then just sitting at the doorstep sad."

Vazquez does not want something like this to happen to anyone else.

"Thankfully he was there," Vazquez said. "He sat down by the door and I hugged him. I hugged him hard and I said, 'What happened? What happened, Papi? Why are you here?'"

Cathleen Corella, assistant superintendent of education services for OUSD, said the district is fully aware of this incident.

She said a school administrator placed Anthony on the bus because his name was on the summer school transportation list and is a regular bus rider during the school year.

In a statement, Corella said: "Unfortunately, the student was not designated as a confirmed summer school bus rider by parent. When the school learned that they had inadvertently put the student on the school bus, our district's Transportation Department was contacted and confirmed he was dropped off at his regular designated bus stop.

Our Transportation Department immediately went to the student's home to ensure that the student was safe and found student with the parent. The Office of Educational Services has investigated this incident and has reviewed all transportation protocols with all summer school administrators to ensure that only parent-approved students are allowed on summer school buses moving forward."

However, for Vazquez that is not enough.

She's unenrolled Anthony from summer school because she does not trust them to keep him safe.

"Why would I still continue sending my son there?" Vazquez asked.