Student dropped off at wrong stop

BROKEN ARROW, Oklahoma – A mother of a Broken Arrow Public School student said her 11-year-old son was dropped off 1.5 miles from his bus stop.

Brooke Lawson said her son’s bus driver skipped his stop, causing him to get off at the wrong stop. 2 News spoke to Lawson and BA’s Department of Transport to find out how parents can avoid this problem in the future.

“That was absolutely the worst thing you can experience as a parent, not knowing where your child is,” Lawson said.

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

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

Bus problems are a topic that 2 News reports on every year after classes start.

Lawson called 2 News to report the issue, and those concerns went directly to Broken Arrow Deputy Transportation Director Jennifer Hayes.

“We’re talking about ways to prepare our students for things we might not think about in advance,” Hayes said.

She said there are several pieces at the beginning of the year, some of which are bound to cause problems, but they give parents tips.

“I often tell students to raise their hand. Tell the driver I missed my stop or I don’t know my way around here and I don’t even know if I’m on the right bus. So just communicate with the driver,” Hayes said.

She also introduced an app that tracks students’ buses. Lawson showed it to 2 News. The app is called MyStop and tracks the bus’s location in real time. However, Lawson said it doesn’t always work properly.

“Whenever I go to my youngest son, it shows me where the bus is, but even that’s not always accurate,” Lawson said.

BA Transportation said the app would become more accurate as improvements were made.

However, Lawson said she is also being proactive to make sure she knows where her children are.

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

Hayes said her goal is to continue to gain parents’ trust.

“You know, there isn’t a parent that doesn’t want to feel like their child had a successful day, and we want to help make that happen,” Hayes said.

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

BA Public Schools Transportation also told me that parents with concerns can contact the department at 918-259-4550.

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