School Bus Leaves Girl At Wrong House
'Somebody Lied,' Grandmother Said
POSTED: 5:54 pm CDT September 17,
2008
UPDATED: 7:36 pm CDT September 17,
2008
NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- A Nashville woman said that her granddaughter was dropped off by the school bus at the wrong stop, more than a mile from her house last week. The little girl sat alone and scared for nearly half an hour on the rural road.
Video: Child Left Alone After Bus Stop Mix-Up"At 3:15, when I got ready to go down to the driveway to meet her, a bus passed," said Tressa Merlin. "I just got a sick feeling in my stomach and thought, 'Oh, God. That was the bus.'"Sick because her 5-year-old granddaughter was supposed to get off at Merlin’s house last Thursday, as opposed to the girl’s regular stop at the babysitter's, where no one was home.Merlin said that Victoria sat outside alone for 40 to 45 minutes.“There's a couple of sex offenders that live down the road,” said Merlin, “and, you know, I worry about things like that.”Merlin had sent a letter to her granddaughter’s school, noting the different drop off for that day.The principal at Joelton Elementary said that the bus driver did receive the note, but she told him that she just misinterpreted the message, essentially flipping the addresses. Instead of dropping the child off at 2968, she dropped her off more than a mile down the road at 2800.“She got off the bus and came running up to me,” said Merlin, “and her face was red and her eyes were swollen.”Victoria was scared and shaken, but her grandmother was upset. She said someone at customer service just told her the bus was running late.“I felt like I was lied to, and she was unnecessarily put in harm’s way,” she said.“If they had just said, ‘She was dropped off at [the] babysitter’s house incorrectly, we're so sorry, it will never happen again,’ you know, I can forgive a mistake. But I was blatantly lied to … lied to. Somebody lied.”Merlin said that the school district was quick and helpful with getting her granddaughter back home once they determined what had happened.The transportation supervisor declined to comment, but said that they have no way of knowing who would have taken that call last week.
Video: Child Left Alone After Bus Stop Mix-Up"At 3:15, when I got ready to go down to the driveway to meet her, a bus passed," said Tressa Merlin. "I just got a sick feeling in my stomach and thought, 'Oh, God. That was the bus.'"Sick because her 5-year-old granddaughter was supposed to get off at Merlin’s house last Thursday, as opposed to the girl’s regular stop at the babysitter's, where no one was home.Merlin said that Victoria sat outside alone for 40 to 45 minutes.“There's a couple of sex offenders that live down the road,” said Merlin, “and, you know, I worry about things like that.”Merlin had sent a letter to her granddaughter’s school, noting the different drop off for that day.The principal at Joelton Elementary said that the bus driver did receive the note, but she told him that she just misinterpreted the message, essentially flipping the addresses. Instead of dropping the child off at 2968, she dropped her off more than a mile down the road at 2800.“She got off the bus and came running up to me,” said Merlin, “and her face was red and her eyes were swollen.”Victoria was scared and shaken, but her grandmother was upset. She said someone at customer service just told her the bus was running late.“I felt like I was lied to, and she was unnecessarily put in harm’s way,” she said.“If they had just said, ‘She was dropped off at [the] babysitter’s house incorrectly, we're so sorry, it will never happen again,’ you know, I can forgive a mistake. But I was blatantly lied to … lied to. Somebody lied.”Merlin said that the school district was quick and helpful with getting her granddaughter back home once they determined what had happened.The transportation supervisor declined to comment, but said that they have no way of knowing who would have taken that call last week. Copyright 2009 by WSMV.com. All rights reserved.
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