Woman says school bus driver dropped off daughter, 5, in wrong town

A woman told Channel 11 News that her 5-year-old daughter was dropped off in the wrong town by a school bus driver after her first day of kindergarten.

Jessica Yost said her daughter was dropped off in front of a pizza shop over 7 miles from where she lives.

“I want to know where my child is. I want to know why I was not contacted. I just want to know why she was dropped off in the middle of nowhere,” she said.

Yost’s daughter has to ride two buses home, first taking a larger bus then later getting on a smaller one.

The girl’s grandfather, who is a school bus driver for another company, said that the driver did not follow protocol for any company. He will now be taking the girl to school.

Yost’s friend, who lives in Blackville, saw her daughter, picked her up and called her.

Yost said her daughter was crying, did not know where she was and said she never wants to get on the school bus again.

“In a small town, who knows what could have happened or where she could have ended up,” Yost said.

When Yost called the bus company, she said they attributed the incident to it being the first day of school.

Yost also said that the company told her they cannot fire the driver because they do not have enough drivers.

“They told me there were switching the bus driver routes, so my daughter would not have that bus driver any longer. So what does that change? So (now) you put other children in danger?” she said.

Central Greene School District Superintendent Brian T. Uplinger released the following statement in regard to the incident: