A valley man is furious with the Clark County School District after he claims shortcomings in the bus system have put his 6-year-old daughter in danger more than once.
On Wednesday he spoke to 13 Action News about it at his daughter’s bus stop in Mountain’s Edge.
He says in one instance, the 6-year-old was left at the stop with no guardian to pick her up. In the week before, she was dropped off at the wrong stop.
"She was absolutely freaked out,” Heath Spence told 13 Action News. “She's looking around everywhere, trying to find me."
He says luckily the mistaken bus stop was only a few blocks away so he was able to get to his daughter fast.
"It was just rough because it took so much to get her to the point where she was just comfortable taking the bus every day," said Spence.
Not only was Heath Spence's daughter dropped off at the wrong bus stop, he says one time she was dropped off 15 minutes early and the bus driver left her at the stop with no guardian. -KTNV Channel 13 Action News-
Posted by Michael Burton on Wednesday, March 16, 2016
After the first offense, he immediately called CCSD and complained.
'It wasn't until the third time that I called, that they actually filed a report about it," he said.
A valley parent is furious with CCSD after his 6-year-old daughter is dropped off at the wrong bus stop. -KTNV Channel 13 Action News-
Posted by Michael Burton on Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Spence says this week the bus driver dropped off students out of their normal order, dropping his daughter off nearly 15 minutes earlier than the usual time. He wasn't there to pick her up.
"By the time I got here at around 3:40 p.m., the bus had already been here and she was sitting here by herself with a couple other kids that actually stuck by her to make sure she got where she needs to go," Spence said.
A CCSD spokeswoman told 13 Action News the district has approximately 1,550 bus routes and drivers, and transports more than 110,000 students daily. Many bus routes each day do require substitute drivers due to open and unfilled positions.
"Whether it's a training issue or they're just bouncing drivers around too much,” says Spence. “It's really not helping out the situation."
On Wednesday, a CCSD supervisor was present to make sure all went well.
CCSD sent a supervisor to address the issue, but the parents of the 6-year-old say their response simply isn't enough. -KTNV Channel 13 Action News-
Posted by Michael Burton on Wednesday, March 16, 2016
The Spence family understands that the driver was a substitute, however, they have decided that they will be taking their 6-year-old daughter off the bus permanently.
