NEW YORK (WABC) — A school bus driver and bus matron have been barred from overseeing students after investigators say they kept six nonverbal special education students on a school bus for more than four hours.
According to the city’s Special Commissioner of Investigation, the students, ages 6 to 8, were supposed to arrive at P.S. 289 in Brooklyn before 9 a.m. on Dec. 16, 2025. Instead, investigators say they did not reach the school until about 1:25 p.m.
Investigators said the driver became lost and failed to contact the school, bus depot or anyone else for assistance.
By the time the students arrived, authorities said one child had urinated on herself.
“In one situation the mother had put iTags on two of her children and in this situation she was watching and seeing where her children were and she was very upset,” Special Commissioner of Investigation Anastasia Coleman said. “This is really something that’s egregious and you just take all those factors and they’re all bad.”
The investigation found the students remained on the bus for more than four hours while en route to school.
In a statement, Consolidated Bus Transit said both employees have been on leave since the incident. The company said they are not permitted on any of its buses and are barred from interacting with students.
The case is being cited by investigators as a serious lapse in student safety involving some of the city’s most vulnerable children.
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