Maine school board investigating student missing for 5 hours in First Student van

FRYEBURG, Maine — The MSAD 72 school board chair released a statement Dec. 10, calling an incident on Dec. 3, in which a handicapped student taking a van to her special needs school went missing for hours, “completely unacceptable.”

Chair Beth Bosworth’s statement came after an emergency meeting Dec. 8, that drew about two dozen area residents. The letter was released to The Conway Daily Sun by MSAD 72 Superintendent Jay Robinson.

The MSAD 72 meeting that was scheduled for Dec. 10, was postponed until Dec. 17, due to the weather. Reappointment of the superintendent is on the agenda.

During the public comment period Dec. 8, the child’s foster mother, Kate Joy, delivered an emotional, detailed account of the Dec. 3 incident. First Student was supposed to bring the girl to a special needs school in Monmouth, which is west of Augusta, but instead of arriving at 9:10 a.m., the girl arrived at 12:40 p.m. The driver went to Lewiston for unknown reasons. Joy said the driver spoke no English.

“The school board and I feel very strongly that what happened to one of our students was completely unacceptable and wish that no family had to experience the fear of a child who cannot be located, even for a minute. We stand firmly behind the administration's decision to terminate the contract with First Student,” said Bosworth.

“Despite being a large, reputable company who reports to, and promised to use, rigorous vetting and tracking practices, our student was unaccounted for and communication from the company was inaccurate and insufficient. This failure led to both the parent and our special education director calling 911,” she said.

Bosworth said the contract with First Student has been terminated. She said an internal investigation will be conducted that will be used to create an action plan. The plan will provide “a robust accountability and attendance plan for students who are placed out of district; assess the use and feasibility of independent/district owned GPS on all vehicles carrying district students.”

Of Bosworth’s letter, Joy told The Conway Sun, “This is the first time I've seen real leadership.”

On Dec. 8, Joy told the board her daughter was picked up by a substitute driver after the regular driver canceled because of weather conditions.

She said the substitute driver arrived late, spoke no English and struggled with his phone and GPS. Nearly five hours later, neither the district nor the company could account for the child’s whereabouts, she said.

“At 11:08 a.m., after realizing that neither the district nor the vendor could account for my child’s location, I called 911,” Joy told the board.

“I want to emphasize, a parent had to inform and initiate an emergency response to a child under district care,” she added.

Police then began a missing-child search. Joy’s voice broke with emotion as she recalled giving the sheriff’s office her daughter’s description.

“She was wearing a purple dress with unicorns and matching tights,” said Joy. “She had a baby doll named Delilah that she took everywhere.”

Joy said that around noon another First Student driver located the van and her daughter in Lewiston — far off the intended route. She said she later learned the driver’s listed address was associated with a refugee services organization in Lewiston, and the driver may have gone there seeking help after losing GPS and cellphone connectivity.

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The girl got to school at 12:40 p.m., Joy said, and was “distressed, hungry ... and nonverbal,” though she is not typically nonverbal. Because the child had been missing for more than five hours, Joy said she underwent a medical evaluation at MaineHealth Stephens Hospital in Norway, Maine, and was referred for a forensic interview at Spurwink Services.

Robinson told The Conway Sun that the district has stopped using First Student for student transport. He called the situation “terrible” and said the district contacted police when it became clear the girl had not reached her school.

Joy urged the commission to conduct an independent critical-incident review, require GPS tracking for contracted vehicles and adopt stricter communication protocols when students do not arrive as expected.

She also called for “publicly released findings and corrective action to rebuild the community trust around this event.”

“These failures are not administrative oversights,” Joy said, calling them governance issues that “put student safety and public trust at risk.”

Other community members echoed frustrations about the district’s communication practices. Denmark’s Trish Burnell criticized what she described as a lack of responsiveness from district officials and urged the board to broadcast meetings to increase transparency.

“What are you afraid of people knowing?” said Burnell, who also criticized the board's policy of not answering the public’s questions.

“We come up here, we ask you questions. Time and time again, you guys stare at me like zombies. I never get an answer. There is no state mandate that says you guys cannot speak to us when we come up here and ask a question. It's your own personal policy.”

First Student didn’t appear at the meeting. In a statement to The Sun, First Student said drivers are fully vetted.

Following the 15-minute public comment period, the board entered executive session to discuss confidential matters related to the incident.

MSAD 72 serves the Maine towns of Fryeburg, Denmark, Sweden, Lovell, Stoneham and Stow, as well as Chatham.

After the meeting, parent Steven Walsh, whose child will attend Molly Ockett, told The Conway Sun the timing of the meeting was unfair to working parents.

“I'm actually pretty disturbed the fact that they had a meeting at 5 p.m.,” said Walsh.

The First Student told The Conway Sun the vehicle was stuck behind heavy traffic on the highway for several hours and unable to place a call to dispatch.