Mother upset after bus driver drops kids off 2 miles from home

A pair of DeKalb County parents are angry after they say their elementary school-age daughters were put off the school bus 2 miles from their stop and lost in their own neighborhood.

DeKalb County school officials confirmed to Channel 2’s Nicole Carr they are investigating the incident.

"They were so tired. They were fatigued and sweating and crying. I had to reassure them both that we were safe, that we were going to walk, that we were going to take our time,” said Serita Redmond.

Redmond said two little girls flagged her down blocks away from her Stone Mountain home, dragging their backpacks and looking for help.

“The way they appeared anxious and startled and just seemed obviously confused I would think they were not familiar with the area,” Redmond told Carr

They'd been in their large subdivision for more than an hour but they were lost.

“You just tell them to get off the bus and drive away and leave them?" said Rose Thompson, one the children’s parents.

Thompson said her 7-year-old daughter Gabby and her 9-year-old friend were put off the school bus at the wrong stop on the last day of school despite telling the substitute driver she'd passed their homes.

When the girls didn't make it home at their regular time, the parents panicked, contacting and arriving at the school for help.

Gabby said the houses and streets all looked the same in the subdivision

“And then we flagged down the lady,” Gabby said.

She was able to tell Redmond her mother's phone number.

"And we began to walk," Gabby said.

They coordinated a reunion at Redmond's home, walking because she didn't want the girls to get into a stranger's car.

Now the parents want a guarantee this doesn't happen again.

“Who is responsible? How does this get rectified?” Redmond said.

Thompson also says the same driver stranded her son and other students at the middle school.

Calling this an active investigation, DeKalb schools issued a statement saying, "The health of our students and staff is our top priority and appropriate administrative actions to ensure the well-being of them will be taken based on what they find.”

Cox Media Group