Parent says 9-year-old left asleep on school bus, found wandering district bus yard in South Jersey

BLACKWOOD, N.J. (WPVI) -- A South Jersey mother says her 9-year-old son was left alone on a school bus and was found wandering a bus yard after falling asleep on his way to summer school on Thursday.

Wanda Chandler spoke exclusively with Action News hours after the incident.

She said her son boarded the bus around 8 a.m., just as he had every weekday during the past five weeks of summer school at Union Valley Elementary School in Blackwood.

The school is within the Gloucester Township Public Schools district, which runs its own transportation department.

About two and a half hours later, Chandler said she received a phone call from the school district informing her that her son had not arrived for the start of his final day of summer school.

"He was just left asleep in the bus depot," Chandler said.

According to Chandler, her son fell asleep during his morning bus ride and woke up alone on an empty bus parked in the district's transportation yard.

The boy said he had to figure out how to open the bus door before getting off and searching for help.

"I lifted up this thing to open the door," he said. "I got off the bus and looked for anyone. I found this man, so I asked him, 'Do you know where I can go back?'"

The 9-year-old said he tried to remain calm despite the frightening experience.

"I was trying to be a big boy, so I just acted brave and normal," he said.

Chandler said a district employee found her son walking through the parking lot, asked his name and age, and brought him inside.

"Someone found him in the parking lot, asked him his name and age, took him inside, and that's how they discovered this whole thing happened," she said.

Chandler said the district told her that Child Protective Services was notified and that her son was eventually transported to school for the remainder of his last day of summer classes.

However, she said she still has unanswered questions about exactly how long her son remained asleep on the bus and how long he was alone in the transportation yard.

"I still have a lot of questions that need answers. I was just given the bare minimum," Chandler said.

She said her son has ADHD and believes the situation could have ended much differently.

"A lot of things could've happened. Thank God he's safe - that's number one - but what if he didn't wake up? What if he walked out into that bus depot and a stranger took him? This could've ended altogether differently."

Chandler, whose family recently moved into the district, said the summer program was intended to help her son become comfortable riding the school bus before the new school year begins.

"This was practice for him because we just moved into the school district. He will be riding the bus alone this upcoming school year, which was why I thought this would be a good idea," she said.

She called the incident "unacceptable."

"I asked if there was a bus driver and an aide because that's very important, and they said yes. This is unacceptable. Shame on you. You should've known better. You should've practiced all safety protocols that were in place."

Requests for comment were made to both the district's transportation office and the superintendent's office.

The transportation office referred inquiries to the superintendent's administrative assistant. As of Thursday afternoon, the district had not responded to requests for comment.