Student dropped off at wrong stop | BAPS shares bus tips for students, parents

By Braden Bates

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    BROKEN ARROW, Oklahoma (KJRH) — A Broken Arrow Public School mother said her 11-year-old son got dropped off a mile and a half from his bus stop.

Brooke Lawson said her son’s bus driver passed his stop which caused her son to get off at the wrong stop.

2 News spoke with Lawson and BA’s Transportation Department to see how parents can avoid this issue in the future.

“That was the absolute worst thing to be told as a parent like not knowing where your kid is,” said Lawson.

She said it was dangerous for her son to have left the bus in the wrong area.

“My son doesn’t know that neighborhood. He’s 11-years-old and for the last three years, he’s gone to school right next door to our house. So this is the first year on the bus and this is the experience that we’ve had with it,” said Lawson.

Bus issues are something 2 News covers yearly after classes start.

Lawson called 2 News to share the issue and we took those concerns to Broken Arrow’s Assistant Director of Transportation Jennifer Hayes. “We talk about ways that we can prepare our students for things that we may not think about about in advance,” said Hayes.

She said there are multiple pieces at the beginning of the year with some bound to have kinks. But they’re offering tips to parents.

“I often tell students to raise their hand. Let the driver know that I’ve missed my stop or I’m unfamiliar with this area and I don’t even know if I’m on the right bus. So just communicate with that driver,” said Hayes.

She also introduced an app that tracks student’s buses. Lawson showed it to 2 News. The app is called MyStop and tracks the bus location in real-time.

However, Lawson said it doesn’t always work right. “Whenever I go to my youngest son, it’ll show me where the bus is but again it’s not always accurate.”

BA Transportation said the app should be more accurate as they work through improvements. Lawson said she’s also being proactive to ensure she knows where her kids are.

“I’ve actually already ordered a couple of airtags and put in his backpack and one in his shoe,” Lawson said.

Hayes said their goal is to continue to earn parent’s trust.

“You know there’s not a parent that doesn’t want to feel like their child has had a successful day and we want to contribute to that,” said Hayes.

Lawson said she now has one of her older sons make sure the bus stops.

BA Public Schools Transportation also said if any parent is concerned they can reach out to the department at 918-259-4550.

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