The first day of school is usually a time of excitement. Sadly, some children in Minnesota had their back-to-school experience ruined by their very own bus driver. The situation turned into something out of a parent’s worst nightmare when a Minneapolis bus driver suddenly abandoned a bus full of children in the middle of a busy street.
The shocking scene unfolded on Dupont Avenue North, right outside a McDonald’s, where the bus made an unexpected stop. Instead of carrying on with the route, the Minnesota driver got out and walked away, leaving around a dozen children, including a special-needs student, completely unsupervised. One commenter called it “a total disaster.”
Imagine the confusion and fear of young kids sitting on an idling yellow bus with no adult in sight. One child even called their mom in a panic, blurting out, “Hey mom, we’re on the bus and we don’t know what to do. There’s no driver on the bus.”
Minnesota Bus Driver Abandons Kids, Causing Chaos
For Minneapolis parent Pearll Warren, that phone call was nothing short of terrifying. She rushed over immediately, only to find the unbelievable. The bus doors closed, the engine running, and kids peering out the windows for help. “It was disheartening, and I was concerned. I have a special needs child on the bus…that’s a high-traffic area, so the probability of anything happening is high,” she said later.
Warren didn’t just act, she broadcasted. Pulling out her phone, she went live on Facebook to show the situation in real time. The video reportedly captured the kids’ confusion and the parents’ outrage, spreading like wildfire through Minnesota social media circles.
Thankfully, police arrived quickly after Warren called 911. Officers stayed with the children until a supervisor from the bus company stepped in. Eventually, the kids were released to their parents, but the damage was already done.
The Parents Were Furious
Stonebridge World Charter School, the operator of the route, later admitted the obvious. The driver violated protocol. They assured families the driver won’t be behind the wheel again and promised new safeguards. That’s good to hear, but for many parents, those words may not be enough to erase the memory of seeing a busload of kids left behind.
Parents already wrestle with enough anxiety about sending kids off to school, especially in a world where safety is never guaranteed. Stories like this don’t just spark outrage; they highlight how fragile that sense of security can be.
At the end of the day, all the kids got home safe. But the larger story? However, the parents in Minnesota want assurances that this kind of negligence will never happen again.
Hunter Spears 
Kenna Raye 
