Cheltenham School District parents recall frantic search for 5-year-old son after he was dropped off at wrong bus stop
CHELTENHAM TOWNSHIP, Pa. (CBS) -- The Cheltenham School District is investigating how a 5-year-old boy got dropped off at the wrong bus stop on his second day of school.
"Daddy was scared, daddy was scared," 5-year-old Cameron Nelson said.
Cameron is still frightened after his parents say he was dropped off at the wrong bus stop on his second day of school. It was his first day riding the school bus.
"We got to the bus stop and once I saw Cameron didn't get off, my heart just dropped," mother Shaquis Davenport said.
Davenport says at the end of the school day, she returned to Wagner Way and John Russell Circle in the Lynnewood Gardens Complex to pick up her son. He never stepped off the bus so her husband began the frantic search to find him.
"I was running for approximately a half a mile trying to see where my son was," father Isaiah Nelson said.
By then, neighbors had joined the search of the sprawling complex. A few blocks away, 10 to 15 minutes later Nelson spotted his son, shaken but safe.
"I finally saw a kid with a black shirt and red shorts, I knew that was my son. He was with two strangers that looked like they had gotten out of their car. I just broke down," Nelson said.
"I was crying about it and daddy was crying," Cameron said.
"Those moments, it felt like forever," Davenport said. "I was thinking I wasn't gonna see my son anymore. I was thinking that was it. Cause she couldn't tell me where she specifically dropped him off. She wasn't even aware he was on that bus."
Cameron's parents want answers as to how this could have happened. They want Cheltenham school officials to hold the transportation company accountable and account for every child in their care.
"What I want is to at least have a reevaluation of something sitewide, schoolwide," Nelson said.
The Cheltenham School District superintendent sent CBS3 this statement in reference to the incident, it reads in part:
"Upon learning of this most unfortunate incident, our team responded immediately by opening an investigation with our bus contractor, Cheltenham transportation. We are also reviewing protocols and policies with our transportation partners to identify where updates might be warranted."
