Boy dropped off at wrong school bus stop

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. (WSVN) -- The mother of a 5-year-old disabled boy is concerned after, she says, her child's school bus driver dropped him off at the wrong bus stop.

Martha Smith's son, Alexander Smith, is a student at Coconut Palms K-8 Center in Southwest Miami-Dade.

According to Smith, Alexander, who suffers from a mental disability, was riding a new school bus on Thursday. Smith waited for over an hour for her son to arrive at his stop after school, but the 5-year-old never arrived.

Alexander was supposed to get dropped off at his bus stop along Southwest 242nd Street and 129th Avenue. Instead, the boy was dropped off near Southwest 260th Street, more than 20 blocks away from his home.

A neighbor was visiting a friend in the area and noticed Alexander looked lost. "He was following my friend's son, and we opened the door, and he was just standing right out there," said Vanessa Gonzalez, "and I looked, and I'm like, 'There's no parents around him,' so I went outside and found him."

Gonzalez noticed the phone number written on Alexander's backpack and called his parents. Gonzalez said, "I mean, he could have gotten hit by a car or somebody could have snatched him up. It happens everyday, so hopefully, they'll take care of the kids a little bit more."

"They could have snatched him, hurt him or even killed him, and I would have never known," Martha Smith said, through translation.

"I was worried that he was lost, that he might not come back or something," said Alexander's brother, William Smith. "He's just a little kid, and many things can happen to him."

Alexander's mother said this is not the first time her 5-year-old has experienced a school bus mishap. According to Smith, Alexander was once left on a school bus for hours because the school bus driver did not realize the child was on the bus.

Smith said, in another incident, Alexander was put onto the wrong school bus. However, she is glad that Gonzalez cared for her child while he was lost. "I'm so grateful for the woman who took care of him," she said. "Just imagine what could have happened."

Martha Smith said she is not sure if she will put her son back on the school bus.

This was the first time Alexander rode the privately contracted bus. The Miami-Dade County School Board said since he is a special needs child, he should have special care instructions written into his contract that instructs a bus driver to confirm his parent has picked him up.

The school board is now looking into an investigation with this privately contracted business to see if all procedures were followed.

(Copyright 2012 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)