District fires bus driver who got lost with students onboard

MONTGOMERY, N.J. – A New Jersey school district has fired a bus driver who got lost on the first day of school.

Montgomery schools Superintendent Nancy Gartenberg says the unidentified male driver was unfamiliar with the route and failed to go on a required practice run.

The driver left Orchard Hill Elementary School with 37 students Sept. 6 and later became lost.

Jennifer Lafaman told the school board she got in her car to find her son, a kindergartener, when the bus didn’t arrive. Lafaman says she found the bus “nowhere near the bus route” two hours after it was supposed to drop off her son.

School officials have issued an apology and say drivers will be required to report to the transportation office next year to ensure that they know their routes.