Two separate school bus incidents involving elementary school students have parents in Buffalo Grove concerned after one child found a syringe and another was dropped off far from home.
Paul Kossof, a parent within Kildeer Countryside School District 96, said he got a phone call saying his 5-year-old son found a dirty syringe on the ground of his school bus. He brought it to his teacher, and after he was then checked out by the school nurse, who found a puncture mark on his hand.
“He was just sitting with his friend on the bus, and he looked down, and he’d seen quarters on the floor. So he told me that he just picked it up,” Kossof said.
The incident happened in September, but Kossof and his wife still worry their son could have contracted something.
“He saw his mother was upset. He saw we lost sleep. He’s had doctor’s appointments. He felt very guilty. Again, he doesn’t understand that something like this could have an impact on his entire life,” Kossof said.
Another parent within the same school district, Toni Wyatt, is also concerned about school bus safety after her 6-year-old son was dropped off at the wrong location last month.
“When the bus pulled up to my stop, (the bus driver) just kept driving, and I ran after the bus and I stopped her and I said, “Where’s my son?” And she asked who he was. I said his name. She shrugged her shoulders and said, ‘He’s not here,'” Wyatt said.
Other children on the bus told her where her son was, which was about 0.3 miles away from her Buffalo Grove home. The location was close to the busy intersection at Route 83 and Arlington Heights Road. Her first grader was forced to find his way home alone. Strangers even stopped him to ask if he was lost.
She believes the school district handled the situation appropriately.
“I talked to the principal, the assistant principal. They reacted immediately. They expressed their same horror with it,” she said.
However, Wyatt and Kossof have concerns about the company that operates the school buses, Illinois Central. Both parents posted about the incidents on Facebook and have since heard from other parents with similar stories.
“It took something truly horrifying that could have been so much worse for them to take this situation seriously. I don’t want to think about what the possibilities could be had it gone differently,” Wyatt said.
“I’ve spoken with the school district and bus company, and of course they’re very apologetic. (They) say they’ll be transparent and that they’ll investigate. However, I’ve asked for concrete steps that they’ve taken, and I’ve not been provided those,” Kossof said.
Kildeer Countryside School District 96 sent NBC 5 Chicago a statement saying:
“Kildeer Countryside School District 96 takes the safety and security of our students seriously and approaches every concern with care, compassion, and urgency. While we will not disclose confidential student information, we elevate all concerns directly with the private bus company to push for meaningful improvements to systems and route operations. If an incident occurs, our district takes immediate steps to investigate, address the circumstances, and most importantly, partner directly with our families to ensure our students are safe and secure at all times.Our families deserve dependable transportation, and we will continue to advocate for our students. We value our open line of communication with families as we work toward sustained improvements.”
Illinois Central sent NBC 5 Chicago a statement saying:
“Safety is paramount in everything we do. Our drivers have operated without a single collision so far this school year, and we hold ourselves to that same standard in every other part of the ride. We take every safety concern seriously. When an issue is raised, we review it thoroughly, address it with the people involved, and work closely with district leadership to prevent it from happening again. Out of respect for student privacy, we are not able to discuss the details of individual incidents. Parents trust us with their children every morning and every afternoon. That is a responsibility we do not take lightly, and we will keep working alongside the district to earn that trust on every route, every day.”
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