It's déjà vu for Omaha Public Schools as it deals with another busing problem nearly eight months into the school year.
A mother wants answers after her 10-year-old son, who is autistic, failed to come home for hours when a bus driver dropped him at the wrong house Thursday.
"I know it's a big school district, but there are just some things that they do that are inexcusable," says Kasei Otis, the mother.
She told 3 News Now her son Jaden, a fifth grade student at Walnut Hill Elementary, isn't going to school or getting back on the bus today.
"They can say it won't ever happen again with anybody else and say accidents happen," Otis says. "But, it comes down to accountability."
A substitute bus driver dropped the student off at Jaden's old home near 38th and Cuming streets, according to Monique Farmer, a spokesperson for the district.
In a statement to 3 News Now, Farmer reveals the fill-in driver was sent back to the area to search for Jaden, along with three bus drivers.
According to the district, the driver wasn't familiar with the route and is now on administrative leave during an internal investigation.
Currently, district officials are looking into how the driver received outdated address information.
Recently, the Otis' moved four blocks west of their old address to a house near 48th and Cuming Streets.
More than three miles away from where the bus driver dropped him off, a stranger saw Jaden walking near Fontenelle Boulevard and Larimore Avenue and called 911, Otis says.
Because her son is autistic, it's in his individualized education plan to have a bus driver perform a "visual hand-off," Otis says.
The bus driver pulls up and honks if I'm not already out there, she says.
"I open the door or Jaden will open the door sometimes - he'll get in first before I get to it and I'll just pop my head out and wave at them."
With the school year almost wrapping up, Otis says her son's transportation is failing.
The mother claims the special education bus sometimes arrives 90 minutes late in the morning or completely forgets to pick Jaden up.
Otis says OPS performance hits below satisfactory when it came to its search operations.
When Omaha police and fire searched for her son, school officials looked for the wrong child, she says.
"About an hour and a half into it, OPS bus drivers that were looking for him say they had located an African American male in red shorts," she says.
When asked what would it take for the district to get a passing grade from this latest busing incident, the only "A" Otis will give OPS, she says, is one that starts with accountability.
DISTRICT'S RESPONSE:
OPS Statement:
• Yesterday evening, at approximately 4:40 p.m., OPS Student Transportation was notified that a child was not dropped off by his afternoon bus. As soon as transportation was made aware, the bus driver was contacted and it was determined that the student was dropped off at the family's previous home address.
• The bus driver, a substitute bus driver, was sent back to the area where the student was dropped off to search for the student. An additional other three bus drivers searched the vicinity as well.
• The substitute bus driver who took the student home would not have necessarily been familiar with the regular route.
• OPS is currently investigating how the driver may received outdated address information.
• "We appreciate the help of the Omaha Police Department and the swift response of the community in helping locate the student."
Additional Facts:
• The substitute bus driver has been placed on administrative leave during the investigation.
• A number of OPS employees including transportation staff, the building principal, and other administrators went to the scene to assist with the search.
• We are working directly with the family to ensure their concerns are addressed and to keep them updated on the progress of the investigation, as well as corrective action steps to prevent the situation from happening again.
