Family demanding answers after Boston elementary students dropped off at wrong stop by bus driver

BOSTON — The family of a 10-year-old boy who attends a Dorchester elementary school is speaking out, claiming a substitute bus driver forced her son off at the wrong spot, leaving him roughly a mile away from his Mattapan home.

“Something needs to happen because these little mistakes can cost somebody’s life,” the concerned relative, Eliaris Diaz, said.

It was a traumatic 10th birthday for her nephew, Avelino, a student at the Holmes Innovation School in Boston’s Dorchester neighborhood. He hopped on his school bus as usual on Monday afternoon.

Both Diaz and the boy’s grandmother and primary guardian track his school bus each day back to their Mattapan residence but say Monday’s route looked different than normal.

“Some of the kids started getting frantic and were yelling this is not the right way this is not our stop and he was just telling them to get off the bus,” she said.

The two concerned family members claim a substitute bus driver was driving Avelino’s bus and forced him off at a Walgreens roughly a mile away from home with two other students.

“They grabbed each other’s hand and ran off…we don’t know if those children made it home safely,” she said.

According to his aunt, Avelino rushed inside the Walgreens and asked a customer for help. That customer was a local school teacher who called the boy’s father and was given permission to drive him home safely to his grandmother. She says she spoke to the school Tuesday morning about what happened.

“They didn’t know until I spoke with them I talked with the principal and they got right on top of it,” she said.

Boston Public Schools say they’re aware of the reports and are investigating.

In a letter sent home to parents, Principal Lianne Hughes-Odom confirms the covering bus driver dropped students of bus HS378 off at the wrong stop.

“I want to reassure families that this matter is being fully investigated and will be addressed consistent with district policies,” she said. “The BPS Transportation Department is committed to providing safe transportation to and from school for our students, and is taking steps to address this issue, and we are sharing this information to foster open and transparent communication. We understand that this incident may be concerning to you.”

But Avelino’s family fears this could’ve ended far worse.

“He gets asthma and panic attacks so that was one of the things we were scared about … that was one thing we were afraid of good thing we did calm him down,” Diaz said.

Holmes Innovation students got on the bus as usual on Tuesday while Avelino’s family planned on picking him up. They’re calling for more secure transportation methods as the district looks into what happened and why.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.

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