Parent tracks bus driver after over an hour of driving
Janet Knaak-McLeaney tracked her grandchild's bus through Omaha Public School's Here Comes the Bus app. It shows where the bus is in real-time. On Sept. 7
By Waverle Monroe
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OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — Janet Knaak-McLeaney tracked her grandchild’s bus through Omaha Public School’s Here Comes the Bus app. It shows where the bus is in real-time. Tuesday, Knaak-McLeaney said the bus seemed to drive everywhere except to the child’s stop.
What was supposed to be a normal ride home quickly turned into a long journey for some Dundee Elementary School students.
“We saw it go that way two blocks and dropped the kids off and then we didn’t see him for another hour,” Knaak-McLeaney said.
Knaak-McLeaney said it all started when she got the first notification from the Here Comes the Bus app.
“The bus is supposed to pick them up at 4:05 p.m. from school. We received a text at 4:35 p.m. saying the bus was substituted,” Knaak-McLeaney said.
That’s when she opened the app to check where the bus was.
“We noticed the bus was going in a totally different direction,” Knaak-McLeaney said. “It went all the way down to 49th and Lake then 52nd. It went down to 40th and 38th and Seward.”
She started taking screenshots. The first was taken 10 minutes after the scheduled drop-off at 4:40 p.m. near 41st Avenue and Chicago Street. The bus was at Franklin and Decatur streets.
Then at 5:30 p.m. it was near Dewey Park and 10 minutes later it was near 33rd and Leavenworth streets.
“My husband got in the car. He wanted to track the bus down,” Knaak-McLeaney said.
Finally, Knaak-McLeaney’s husband caught up to the driver at 34th and Howard streets and asked if he could take his granddaughter home.
The driver said yes but Knaak-McLeaney said her husband noticed the driver looked confused.
“My husband said, ‘I don’t know how they’re doing that,’ they just got an address on there and they’re jumping all over the place,” Knaak-McLeaney said.
She said there needs to be more training when it comes to new drivers.
“The bus drivers, I know they are busy, and I know there are new drivers and I don’t want to discourage them but I think if they are new they need someone to ride with them for a couple of times,” Knaak-McLeaney said.
Knaak-McLeaney said since the school year’s started her granddaughter’s afternoon bus has been subbed six or seven times.
With Omaha Public Schools still experiencing bus driver shortages, the district said that kids will still experience delays or longer rides.
A district spokesperson sent this statement to KETV:
“Throughout the late summer, we have communicated about the staffing challenges we face, like school districts and businesses across our country. We also shared the impact those shortages could have on student transportation in our district.
“Although we are doing everything we can to recruit qualified drivers and aides to assist with the more than 22,000 students we transport daily, we are still in need of additional staff. Students and families will continue to experience delays and longer ride times.
“As we have shared with our families, it is our focus to safely transport students to and from school each day. We care deeply about the families we serve.
“We encourage families to continue to reach out with questions and concerns. We will work with each family to address individual concerns.”
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