A Montreal mother is upset after she says her two young daughters were kept on a school bus for three hours earlier this week.
Emmanuelle Porlier says her girls, 10-year-old Heidi and 7-year-old Roxanne, didnāt get off at their usual bus stop Wednesday afternoon where she was waiting for them.
Confused and distraught, Porlier called the bus company and eventually ended up following the vehicle around the city in hopes of reaching her children.
āIt was a very stressful experience,ā Porlier told CTV Montreal. āI was shaking ... Iām a very calm person, but yesterday I showed another side of me.ā
Michael Cohen, a spokesperson for the English Montreal School Board, apologized for the incident and called it āmiscommunicationā and a āregrettable situation.ā
But Cohen said the bus driver did the āprudent thingā under the circumstances because the driver did not have the two girls on his list.
āHe did not have them on a list and the safe and prudent thing to do is not to stop, not when a young child says āThatās my stop, let me off,ā and thereās an adult waiting who the bus driver doesnāt have any confirmation is the parent,ā Cohen said.
He added that the driver was new to the job and taking a new route, and he communicated with head office about the situation.
āThere was definitely some communications issues that need to be resolved,ā Cohen said.
Arrangements have been made so that Heidi and Roxanne will be able to take the bus tomorrow, Cohen said.
The girls told CTV Montreal that theyāre nervous about taking the school bus after this weekās ordeal, but their mother says itās the only option.
With files from CTV Montreal
