Left at the wrong bus stop: How 3 students got home with the help of an Enquirer reporter
Enquirer education reporter Madeline Mitchell writes stories about the challenges and triumphs of local students. Last week, she unexpectedly became part of one.
Shayonna Jones walked to her kids’ Mount Auburn bus stop at 4:10 p.m. last Monday with her boyfriend, James Berry, waiting to hug all three of her babies and hear all about their first day of school at Orion Academy.
Ten minutes later, a school bus came by and flew past the stop. Jones said she recognized the driver she’d met at orientation through the bus window as he rolled down the street.
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Jones, 29, and Berry, 33, hopped in Berry’s car and followed the bus. They pulled next to the driver at a red light and rolled down the window, asking where Jewlz, Jayvion and Jyair Jones were. Why didn’t they get off at the stop?
Jones said the driver looked confused, pulled out his list, and confirmed that yes, he did get the stops mixed up and Jewlz, Jayvion and Jyair were dropped off on Liberty and Logan streets in Over-the-Rhine, about a mile and a half away from home.
“Why did you do that?” Jones asked him.
Jones said the driver shrugged, and said, “I’m not from around here.” Then he drove off without another word.
Jones and Berry drove to Liberty and Logan to try to find her kids. The kids’ grandparents and stepmom joined in the search. They walked around asking strangers if they’d seen three kids in bright, lime green colored T-shirts walking by. The school uniform should have been a clear giveaway, Jones thought.
But now it was nearly 5 p.m., and her 7, 8 and 9-year-old children were nowhere to be seen. School ends at 2:50 p.m.
Shaken, Jones headed for Cincinnati Police District One.
Enquirer reporter is in the right place at the right time
So, where were Jewlz, Jayvion and Jyair?
They were with me, Enquirer education reporter Madeline Mitchell.
I was walking my pup, Rory, around the neighborhood, blasting Lake Street Dive in my AirPods, before heading off to a Cincinnati Public Schools board meeting. I stopped at the Liberty Street crosswalk near Broadway Street to circle back home and saw three kids with matching lime green T-shirts. The littlest one had a Spider-Man backpack.
The oldest approached me and I took out my earbuds.
“Can I use your phone?” she asked.
Immediately, I knew something wasn’t right. First, I found it alarming that the young students were about to cross a major thoroughfare without an adult. It was also clear to me that they’d already been walking for a bit, and when I asked where they were going and they told me their address, I recognized it was much farther up the hill past Liberty.
Jewlz tried to call her mom to pick them up, but the call didn’t go through. She told me their bus dropped them off at the wrong place, and she had tried to tell the driver it wasn’t right, but he ignored her.
She wasn’t lost, really – she knew where she was and how to get home. But she looked scared to do it by herself, while in charge of her younger brothers.
“Can I walk with you for a bit?” I asked them. “Would that be OK?”
Jewlz breathed a sigh of relief and shook her head yes.
Rory led us in a single file line up the steep hill of Highland Avenue. I found out it was their first day of school, and that Jayvion’s favorite subject is math. Jyair kept throwing up his water bottle and trying to catch it midair, on the way down. His older siblings yelled at him to cut it out.
We paused at one point to catch our breath. It was hot out, and their little legs had already gone about a mile while towing backpacks and lunchboxes.
After nearly a half hour of walking with the kids, we got to their house and found that their mom wasn’t there. I asked for a piece of paper and a pencil, wrote a note to Jones and scribbled down my phone number.
On my walk back home, I called the school and left a voicemail.
Mom: 'I was trying to think positive, but I just kept thinking the worst.'
The kids were only alone for about 10 minutes after I left their house, I found out later. Jones had contacted the school on her way to the police and an academy employee went to the house to see if they were there. She found them outside, knocking on a neighbor’s door, a school representative said. Berry ultimately drove the kids to the police station where they were reunited with their mom.
“They all just hugged me and started crying,” Jones said.
So many things could have gone differently, Jones said later. So many things could have gone wrong. Jones’ car was stolen the day before school started. What if Berry wasn’t around to drive her, chasing after the bus driver? How would she have gone to look for her kids or gotten to the police station?
What if Jewlz, Jayvion and Jyair met someone besides me on their walk home? What if they met someone dangerous?
“I was trying to think positive, but I just kept thinking the worst,” Jones said. “They could have walked up on anybody.”
From the stop Jewlz, Jayvion and Jyair got off at near TQL Stadium in the West End to their home in Mount Auburn, the kids walked at least 1.4 miles. They walked half a mile, at least, before I found them.
Jones said she doesn’t let Jewlz, 9, cross the street by herself ‒ let alone her 7-year-old.
“They should have never been dropped off that far from home,” Jones said. “Never.”
Jones said it will be a while before she feels comfortable putting her children back on a school bus.
What went wrong
Talking to my colleagues at The Enquirer and dozens of community members on Twitter and Facebook about this situation, I realized just how many things had to go wrong for Jewlz, Jayvion and Jyair to be left so far from home.
It was the first day of school, which is stressful and confusing for everyone. Then you have an inexperienced bus driver, or at least one who doesn't know the area very well, in charge of getting the kids home. Jones said the driver had two students named Jewlz on the bus, which may have been part of the problem. There's also a bus driver shortage, so transportation companies are maybe not being as picky with hiring.
When Jewlz tried to call her mom through my phone, she got the number wrong.
Jewlz does have a cell phone of her own, Jones said, but she didn't let her take it to school the first day because she didn't want Jewlz to have it out during class, or to lose or break it.
National Heritage Academies, which manages Orion Academy, got back to me with a statement that it was "upset to learn that three of our students were dropped off at the wrong bus stop" on Monday. It is working with its bus provider, Auxilio Services, "to strengthen safety protocols," which include:
Drivers and on-bus assistants must take attendance when students get on the bus and verify student names at each stop before they exit.
Students in kindergarten through fourth grade are not to be released without a parent present or advance parent permission.
If the driver and on-bus assistant are unsure about a student’s bus stop, they need to confirm it with the bus liaison or the student must be brought back to the school.
The company's communication specialist, Cory Olsen, would not confirm if the bus driver is still employed and working with Orion students, but wrote in an email that "we continue to stress accountability and safety with their (Auxilio's) leadership team."
Auxilio Services did not respond to my phone call and one employee I did get in touch with said she was "not supposed to talk to" me.
Olsen was sure to thank me for walking the Jones children home from school: "We appreciate the care and concern you showed our students. Thank you for guiding them home safely."
Jones has thanked me dozens of times, too. I won't soon forget the tearful voicemail she left me Monday night after she found my letter. And while I was happy to assist, I hope to never see unaccompanied elementary students teetering across Liberty Street during rush hour again.
When Jewlz, Jayvion and Jyair do take the bus home from school in the future, Jones told her daughter to make sure she calls as soon as they are all on the bus together. Jewlz is allowed to bring her cell phone to school now, for safety.
Jones’ youngest, Jyair, told her he’s worried about taking the bus again. What if the driver drops them at the wrong spot?
“Trust me,” she told her son, “that will never happen again.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: School bus leaves young siblings 1.4 miles from home
