21 minutes of panic as Moncton school bus driver disappears with students

1 week_ago 8

New Brunswick·New

Some parents successful Moncton are looking for answers aft a schoolhouse autobus operator refused to fto their children disconnected the autobus and took them connected a 21-minute detour instead. The schoolhouse territory is keeping quiescent astir the incident.

Chris Roberts watched arsenic autobus operator drove distant with his 5-year-old

Mia Urquhart · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 08, 2025 4:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: 31 minutes ago

Man wearing glasses, a shot headdress and hoodie.

Chris Roberts was astatine the autobus halt arsenic usual, waiting for his five-year-old lad to travel location from his Moncton school.

The autobus arrived, the doorway opened and a fig of students got off. Then the operator abruptly closed the doorway and started to thrust away.

With his lad inactive connected the bus, Roberts began to tally toward the autobus to alert the driver.

"I started benignant of moving towards the bus, waving my hands successful the air," Roberts said of the incidental March 27. "That's erstwhile helium conscionable took off, waved to me, and successful that instant, I had nary thought what to expect."

Parents person been trying to portion unneurotic what happened but inactive don't person a wide representation due to the fact that the Anglophone East School District isn't answering their questions.

WATCH | Father describes watching autobus thrust distant with his son:

Moncton parents upset astatine autobus driver’s detour of discipline

Chris Roberts watched helplessly arsenic his son’s schoolhouse autobus operator prevented a fistful of students, including Roberts’s five-year-old, from getting disconnected astatine their regular halt — and past drove distant with them.

They cognize astir a twelve kids usually get disconnected the autobus connected Chesed Boulevard, successful a neighbourhood disconnected the Salisbury Road successful Moncton's westbound end, each time astatine astir 3 p.m.

But connected this day, the operator lone fto astir fractional of them disconnected the autobus earlier driving away.

Roberts was adjacent much acrophobic due to the fact that helium had heard the autobus operator accidental thing that sounded similar helium was going to thatch the children a lesson.

Down the street, meanwhile, Kenny Caron was waiting for his 10-year-old lad to get location from Bessborough School.

When the accustomed clip came and went without his son's arrival, Caron hopped into his car and drove to the autobus stop, wherever helium met Roberts, who was connected the telephone with the school.

Father waited with pounding heart

Caron decided to thrust to the school, reasoning the autobus operator mightiness person returned determination with the kids. When helium failed to find the bus, helium returned to his son's autobus stop.

By now, an authoritative with the schoolhouse had told Roberts she reached the operator by vigor and helium said helium was going to decorativeness his way and past driblet the kids off.

"So past I conscionable sat there, you know, my bosom pounded out of my thorax for a mates of minutes," Roberts said.

Until the autobus returned with the remaining children, Caron said, helium was panicking "because we didn't cognize if he's having a intelligence breakdown oregon what is going on."

All they deduced from the receptionist was that the operator "was going to instrumentality them connected a thrust to scare them straight," helium said.

Getting answers impossible, parents learn

Caron said helium and his wife, Gylian, "were shaken up for 3 oregon 4 days" aft the incident, and his lad is inactive upset.

The Carons immediately tried to get answers from the territory astir what happened — and what volition hap to the driver.

"We sent emails close up to the top," helium said. "Everybody's aware. Nobody contacted us."

And each they wanted was reassurance from the territory that the operator has been reprimanded and educated to guarantee thing similar this ever happens again — and that he's competent and harmless to thrust a schoolhouse bus.

"Nobody told america that."

Roberts is besides disappointed successful the deficiency of connection from the territory astir the lawsuit and its aftermath.

"It would person been bully to get immoderate benignant of acknowledgement from the territory oregon the schoolhouse oregon immoderate benignant of accountability, you cognize what I mean?"

District, section diminution interrogation requests

The Department of Education was asked for an interview, but a spokesperson said the territory "is amended suited to grip your enquiry."

Stephanie Patterson, manager of communications for the district, declined an interrogation request. In an email, she wrote: "We bash not remark connected circumstantial unit matters. Families are encouraged to scope retired to the District Office if they person immoderate questions oregon concerns."

Gylian Caron said they tried that.

"I've emailed perfectly everyone I perchance could deliberation of up to the curate of education, the curate of transportation, and I person not received immoderate effect but from 2 MLAs that said that they would propulsion what they could."

Kenny Caron was pleased the territory enactment different big connected the autobus with the operator past week, thing helium knows only because he waited astatine the autobus halt for his son.

Without immoderate communications from the district, Caron said, parents who were not astatine the autobus halt whitethorn not adjacent person heard astir the incidental — even parents of the children who were taken for the thrust by the driver.

"So I'm gladsome they enactment idiosyncratic with him, possibly to manager him," Caron said. "Maybe helium needs the other coaching and however to woody with children and each that.

"But delight support the parents alert of what's going connected truthful we tin calm down and support connected surviving our lives."