December 13, 2018
A 14-year-old autistic student from Montgomery County ended up in Baltimore on Wednesday when his afternoon school bus drop-off did not go as planned, authorities said.
The student at Rockville High School was not harmed and was in the custody of the school bus driver and bus attendant throughout the episode, school officials said Thursday.
The problem started shortly after school let out at 2:30 p.m., when the teenager boarded his school bus, which was scheduled to make two stops — one in Silver Spring, where the student usually gets off, and another in Baltimore, where another student lives.
Rockville High School, about 35 to 40 miles from Baltimore, has programs for students with autism and those with hearing impairment.
It remained unclear whether the bus went to Silver Spring and the student did not get out — or whether the bus failed to make its stop in Silver Spring, said school system spokesman Derek Turner.
The student's parents called school officials and police when they could not locate their son. The police call came in shortly before 6:30 p.m.
Montgomery County officers traveled to Baltimore and transported the student home, said Sgt. Rebecca Innocenti, a police spokeswoman. Montgomery police worked with Baltimore police to find the bus and confirm the student was aboard, she said.
The student, who was not identified by authorities because of student privacy laws, was reunited with his parents at 8:46 p.m., Innocenti said.
School officials are investigating the incident, and no action has been taken against the bus operator or attendant, said Turner, the school system spokesman.
"It's a scary situation," Turner said. "The good news is the student was always in the custody of the bus driver and the attendant."
