A 10-year-old boy woke up alone on a parked school bus on Sanford Street in East Orange on Tuesday morning, pried open the vehicle's front door himself, and was found wandering outside by a passerby who walked him to safety. The boy was unharmed but visibly shaken, and within about an hour he was back with four family members who rushed to collect him.
According to CBS News New York, an unidentified woman spotted the boy on Sanford Street and escorted him into Virgo Ambulance and Medical Transportation, a business along the mixed commercial and residential corridor. Business owner Ahmed Hassan and employee Michelle Luthman comforted the boy inside and eventually identified him using a piece of homework tucked in his backpack.
The boy told ambulance staff he had fallen asleep on the bus and woke up to find himself alone, with no driver or attendant in sight, per the same CBS report. Staff were able to get into his cellphone using a passcode he provided, which allowed them to reach his mother and arrange for family to pick him up.
Bus Company Stayed Quiet as Police Retrieved Vehicle
The bus was identified as belonging to Circle Transportation, a private contractor. Representatives from the company showed up at the ambulance office alongside police, but company officials did not respond to phone calls, and reporters who visited the company's vehicle yard Tuesday got no comment either, the outlet reported. Local officials had not released an official police report as of Tuesday evening.
The East Orange School District's Pupil Transportation Department is responsible for managing student bus routes and overseeing contracted companies like Circle Transportation to ensure compliance with state safety standards, according to the East Orange School District. The district coordinates transportation for regular, special education, and summer programs through such third-party vendors.
State Law Requires a Driver to Check Every Seat
New Jersey law is explicit on this point. Under N.J.S.A. 18A:39-28, a school bus driver must visually inspect the interior of their vehicle immediately at the end of every route to make sure no student remains on board, a mandate that applies equally to public school employees and private contracted operators.
Buses are also required to carry child check alarm systems that require the driver or an attendant to walk to the rear of the bus to deactivate the alarm, per New Jersey 101.5. A lawsuit in Egg Harbor Township alleged that a bus aide disabled the alarm before all students had exited, according to New Jersey 101.5.
The New Jersey School Boards Association has issued a reminder about school bus inspections at the end of routes.
A Pattern of Kids Freeing Themselves When Protocols Fail
This is not an isolated case in New Jersey this year. Just two months earlier, in August, a 9-year-old student with ADHD fell asleep on a summer school bus in Gloucester Township, woke up alone in a district bus depot, pried open the door, and was found wandering the parking lot by a district employee, according to 6abc Action News. That incident triggered state Child Protective Services notifications and a district safety inquiry.
In March 2023, a 5-year-old nonverbal student with autism was left unattended inside a parked school bus for over an hour in Jersey City before being found safely by staff, CBS News New York reported at the time. East Orange coordinates student transportation through third-party vendors.
