Mother of Chesterfield student speaks after daughter put on wrong school bus

CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — The parent of a Chesterfield County Public Schools student is speaking out after her child was lost after ending up on the wrong school bus.

Alexandra Mondrey said it was only the first day of school when she got the call saying that her daughter could not be located.

“My mom calls me and says, ‘Hey, she’s not on the bus, we don’t know where she is,’” Mondrey told 8News.

According to Mondrey, her daughter, who was supposed to be heading home on a bus from J.B. Watkins Elementary School in the Midlothian area, didn’t make it to her stop. Mondrey said she called the school to find out what was going on.

“I talked to them, and they [had] absolutely no answers,” Mondrey said. “They [didn’t] know where she [was] at all.”

Mondrey said that administrators had already called her before this happened to confirm her daughter’s school bus number.

“They’re giving me a lot of excuses. They’re telling me a lot of information, such as, you know, it’s the first day of school, this can happen, and then they’re also giving me a lot of mixed information and stories that is very, very concerning to me,” Mondrey said about the school district.

She said her nightmare finally ended when her daughter was bussed back to the school and the two were reunited. Mondrey said her daughter told her that she was put on two different buses that day.

For Mondrey, it was like Deja vu because, in 2023, she told 8News a similar story about her daughter getting dropped off at the wrong bus stop.

“Although I know mistakes happen, this has occurred concerning my child twice, and I’m really concerned that there are even more children who have been experiencing this,” Mondrey said.

The school district told 8News it was in direct contact with the family to address the latest situation. Mondrey said school leaders are working to rectify things and have even signed a waiver to move her daughter to a different school.

She hopes that, by speaking out, she can hopefully spark change in the district and warn other parents.

“I really want to be able to advocate for other individuals, and just to use this as a warning concerning what’s going on and how necessary it is to be involved,” Mondrey said.

Mondrey said that she will be driving her daughter to and from school herself from now on.

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