A Jim Thorpe Area School District parent said Wednesday night she feared for her child’s safety after transportation mistakes left her young son alone at home two years in a row, despite assurances the problem had been fixed.

At Jim Thorpe’s school board meeting, Ada Kraszyk told officials that her son, a Penn Kidder Campus student, was mistakenly dropped off at her house instead of daycare when he was in kindergarten — and again on the first day of first grade.

“My 5-year-old son was dropped off at my house when it was previously arranged that he would be taken to daycare,” Kraszyk said. “The only way we found out he was home was because my husband saw him on our Ring camera. My husband and I both work 45 minutes away. My son was by himself, and he walked home from the bus stop alone.”

She said she trusted the district’s assurances that steps would be taken to prevent a repeat.

“I called and emailed members of the board, and I got a response back. I was told this would never happen again. I was forced to trust that it wouldn’t,” she said.

That trust, she told directors, was broken again this school year.

“On the first day of school, my son, now in first grade, was dropped off at my house instead of daycare,” Kraszyk said. “The worst part was when I called the school, nobody knew where my 6-year-old son was. He was missing for 20 minutes.”

A neighbor eventually found her son safe at home, but the ordeal left her shaken. “Can you imagine what it’s like to not know where your 6-year-old son is?” she asked the board. “Two years in a row this happened to us. I have to trust the school district, and right now, I don’t.”

Kraszyk said she has already changed her son’s drop-off arrangements, even though it disrupts her work schedule, because she no longer feels comfortable relying on the district’s system. Her younger daughter, who will start school at Penn Kidder next year, is also scheduled to ride the same bus.

“Afterward I learned my son wasn’t the only child this happened to,” she said. “As a parent, that’s unacceptable. I need to know what the plan is. This can’t happen again.”

District response

Board President Mary Figura acknowledged the seriousness of the situation.

“First, I want to say I completely understand how scary that is,” Figura said. “I have children too, and I feel for you. There is a plan in place, and I apologize.”

District officials outlined several changes. Students in kindergarten through second grade will now sit at the front of the bus and get off first so drivers can clearly see them. Parents will be required to meet their children at the bus stop rather than waiting in cars, and if no adult is present, drivers will return students to school. Staff members will also take attendance for K-2 students before buses leave the campus.

Backpack tags identifying each student’s destination are being expanded beyond kindergarten, though some parents said the tags have already broken or were hard for drivers to see. Administrators said they are reviewing other options, including larger or color-coded tags.

Technology upgrades are also being piloted.

“Students would be given ID cards to scan when they get on and off the bus,” Lori Lienhard, Jim Thorpe director of security and transportation said. “The driver would see on a screen whether the child belongs on that bus. If not, it would flag it.”

Two things went wrong, Lienhard said, in the incidents involving Kraszyk’s son.

“The student was put on the wrong bus, and the driver let the student off without a parent,” she said. “The district and Rohrer Transportation are both responsible. It shouldn’t have happened last year or this year.”

Penn Kidder Assistant Principal Sara Mass offered her own apology.

“I want you to know that I felt terrible about the situation,” she told the Kraszyks. “I carry it with me when something happens to our kids. Our littlest ones need to be protected the most. We will continue to make improvements so this never happens again.”

For Kraszyk, the changes are necessary but trust is still fragile.

“I don’t know what else to do,” she said. “I have to work. My husband has to work. I have no choice but to trust you.”