LAKE STEVENS — Anthony Barbano may return to school after all.
After the 5-year-old became lost on a school bus Friday, his mom, Yvette Barbano, vowed to take him out of public school. Now she’s reconsidering.
She’s relieved to learn that Lake Stevens School District Superintendent David Burgess plans to make changes to try to prevent another child from wandering onto the wrong bus.
Barbano always picks up Anthony from Skyline Elementary School, but on Friday, for an unknown reason, he climbed onto a school bus. School administrators radioed bus drivers and located Anthony on Bus 23 within a few minutes.
The bus driver apparently told Anthony to sit behind her and stay on the bus, but he got off at a bus stop with other kids. The bus driver pulled away, realized Anthony was gone, drove around the block and picked him up, district spokeswoman Arlene Hulten said.
Anthony had a substitute teacher that Friday, and administrators believe that may have caused some confusion at bus time. As a result of Friday’s incident, Burgess is talking with the principals at all Lake Stevens Schools and asking them to review bus procedures with substitutes, Hulten said.
District administrators also are asking schools to make sure an adult waits outside with students who walk home or get rides from their parents. School administrators are reminding bus drivers that students who don’t usually ride their bus must have a signed pass in order to ride, Hulten said. Drivers also aren’t supposed to drop off kindergartners unless there’s someone waiting at the bus stop for them.
“When we walked away from the superintendent’s office, we felt so much better that they’re actually going to take this very seriously and make changes to protect not only my child, but all the children,” Barbano said.
On Friday, she and her husband, Tom Barbano, had been considering suing the school district for misplacing Anthony. Now as long as the district follows through with the changes, she said she won’t file a lawsuit.
“We’re not out for blood,” she said. “That’s not what we want. We want safety procedures in place for all children, especially the most vulnerable, which is the kindergartners.”
An eye infection has kept Anthony from school this week, and Yvette Barbano said her son has been especially clingy.
As word has spread about his adventure on Bus 23, Barbano said some people have suggested that Anthony may have been playing a joke by getting on a bus.
That’s not true, she insisted. Her son was traumatized by the incident.
Barbano, a stay-at-home mother, plans to send Anthony to school today. To make sure he’s safe, she’ll spend much more time in the classroom. She plans to volunteer in his class three days a week and monitor him at recess the other two days.
Reporter Kaitlin Manry: 425-339-3292 or kmanry@heraldnet.com.
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