Mom says school bus left child, 5, off at wrong spot

SHELTON — A local mother is demanding better training procedures for bus drivers after her 5-year-old son was allegedly dropped off after school Thursday alone on Howe Avenue.

Lizzy Cameron said she has also filed a police report on the incident, which she detailed in full in a

Facebook post Thursday, the second day of school.

This incident is just one of various complaints reported against the city-run Shelton Student Transportation Services (SSTS) by parents about bus overcrowding, missed stops and late runs.

“My 5-year-old kindergartner was supposed to

take the bus and go to the Boys and Girls Club after school,” wrote Cameron, adding that the drop-off had gone fine on Wednesday, the first day of school. “But today when I got to the Boys and Girls Club, they didn’t have him and they called the school and he wasn’t there.”

Cameron’s son attends Elizabeth Shelton School and rides on Bus 5.

“Just by a struck [sic] of luck … my mother-in-law calls me because she got a call from our neighbors,” Cameron wrote. “(My son) was left on the corner by himself, and my neighbor who just happened to recognize him, saw him and brought him to my apartment and got ahold of my mother-in-law.”

Cameron said her son was left alone on Howe Avenue, a roadway with vehicles often traveling more than the posted speed limit, and not even in front of the correct stop or home.

Cameron told Hearst Connecticut Media the boy is physically fine but a “little sour at the school this morning.”

SSTS Director Ken Nappi said he was unable to comment as the matter remains under investigation. School Superintendent Ken Saranich said the incident is now a personnel matter and he also was unable to comment.

Cameron added that she will not stop seeking answers to how this happened and she demanded the city-run bus company change its training procedures to prevent this kind of incident from occurring again.

This incident comes as many parents have taken to social media to vent their anger over bus issues, including overcrowded buses, missed stops and long run times. All of these, Saranich said, can be common in the first few days of school.