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Tempers rise after kids dropped off at odd spot
By WAVENEY ANN MOORE, Times Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG -- A band of bedraggled grade school children ended up at a 34th Street S check cashing store, crying for help because of a mixup with their school bus. The school district is trying to untangle the events that led them there. As one mother tells it, the 13 frightened children were "dumped" at the store by a relief driver who said his route did not include their afterschool center. Another mother says the children were dropped off at a corner, and had to navigate a busy intersection and walk two blocks to find help. Everyone agrees that a substitute driver was asked to combine two routes one afternoon. But views diverge after that. The principal and parents say the children should have been bused to their regular stop, the Campbell Park Recreation Center. The transportation department says the driver said it wasn't on his list of stops -- and that in any case, the children got off the bus of their own accord. The bus driver, said a transportation official, reported that the children simply asked him where he was going to stop. He told them that his next stop was a school on the beach -- the opposite direction of where they wanted to go -- and they then got off with other children at an authorized stop. Campbell Park Elementary principal James Steen is furious. He said his students were put in danger and that the afterschool stop was on the route sheet the transportation department had given to the school. The incident is being investigated, Pinellas schools transportation director Terry Palmer said. "There is clearly a difference of opinion of what was said and by whom," Palmer said. "Should we find any wrongdoing on the part of the driver, clearly that would be turned over to our office of professional standards. ... They will make a decision of what to do with the driver." William Scruggs, who was on duty at 24 Hours Checks Cashed, 370 34th St. S, remembers the afternoon of Aug. 30 well. He was stunned when the group of distraught children walked through the door. "There were some young ones and they were crying. The one young lady in the group got everyone to be quiet long enough to tell me they needed help," said Scruggs, a manager for the check cashing company. "They said the bus driver just dropped them off. ... My first reaction was to call police." Instead, Scruggs found out which school the children attend and called. "The assistant principal came out. As soon as the children saw her, they gathered around her," he recalled. Steen, the principal, followed -- after he had arranged fresh transportation for the children. "I went into the business and I thanked them for helping," Steen said. "I really thanked them for keeping our children safe." In a letter to parents -- which at least two said they had not received -- Steen explained that the substitute driver had been asked to combine two routes that day. "The bus driver delivered the children of the other bus to their regular stops. When the children who were to go to the Campbell Park Recreation Center stop asked about their stop, the bus driver told them that he was not going to the rec center because it was not on his list of stops. The children tried to explain that they always get off at the rec center, but the driver told them to get off the bus at 33rd Street and Fourth Avenue S or go with him to Gulf Beaches ...," the letter said. In an interview Friday, Steen added, "We have taken statements from our kids and they support what we said." Steen said he also confirmed what had occurred with the bus assistant, who rides the bus. "She said she told the driver that that was not the children's stop. He should have brought them back here. I'm very upset about it, but the children are fine. The children are safe and that's the good part about it," the principal said. A school bus ride is new to many Campbell Park students. Neighborhood children could usually walk to the campus, which except for this year has always been just south of Tropicana Field. But the school is being rebuilt, so for this year the students are bused 20 blocks west to a temporary home not far from Gibbs High School. Seletha Evans says her son, Tommy D'Sean, a third-grader, now is afraid to ride the school bus. She has started to drive him herself. "He told me, 'Mommy, I prayed, but I was scared,' " she said of the incident. "There's another little boy who goes to our church, he cried the whole time. He thought he would never see his mommy again. I'm very upset about it." Mrs. Evans said she is angry with the transportation department. It took her a day and half to reach someone in authority, she said. Carlita Davis, who had two sons on the bus that day, also complained about being unable to reach school district officials. She insists that the driver "forced" the children off the bus. "Common sense would tell you, let me call home base instead of dropping them off at a check cashing center. My kids came home crying," said Ms. Davis, who has four sons at Campbell Park, Joseph, 9, Joshua, 7, Jacob, 6, and Jonathan, 5. Another parent, Karen Alozade, said her children, Kolade, 6, and Keimundae, 8, reported that the bus driver told them to get off the bus. Palmer said his transportation department is interviewing everyone to find out what really happened. "The corner where he let them off is near the check cashing place. It was an authorized stop that he had been told to make by the dispatcher."
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From the Times South Pinellas desks Jeff Webb Letters |
