‘I was scared’: 4-year-old boy from suburban area was put on wrong school bus, mother says

MATTESON, Illinois – A first-day-of-school mix-up turned into hours of anguish for a south suburban mother after she said her 4-year-old son was put on the wrong school bus and taken to the wrong Matteson neighborhood.

Nicholas Gladney, a kindergarten student at Woodgate Elementary School, had an exciting first day of kindergarten before his commute home took an unexpected turn.

“The teacher put me on the wrong bus and I didn’t like it. I was scared,” Nicholas said. “They dropped me off at a different location.”

According to his mother, Nicolas did not arrive home as expected and the worry grew as the hours passed.

“It got scary towards the end of the day when I noticed time was passing and my son wasn’t home,” Precious Glory said.

After several calls to the school and the bus company, Glory learned that Nicholas had been placed on the wrong route and had been riding the bus for at least two hours.

“They didn’t even know why he was on that particular bus because it wasn’t part of their route,” she said.

District 159 Superintendent Dr. Tiffany Brunson acknowledged the mix-up, saying it was the first day of school and 1,700 students had to be transported on two bus routes. Brunson said the district is taking the matter seriously and has been in communication with Glory to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Even though Nicolas was eventually brought home safely, the situation has shaken Glory. She now plans to drive her son to and from school until she finds a more reliable solution.

FOX 32 reached out to American School Bus Company for comment but did not receive a response.