GREENCASTLE, Ind. – A school bus dropped off a kindergarten student at the wrong house 3 miles away from her home earlier this week.
On Tuesday, 5-year-old Olivia Hopwood left Ridpath Elementary on bus six and during the ride she met second grader Madison Miles. When Madison got off the bus to transfer to another bus at the middle school, Olivia got off too. That bus took both girls to Madison's house.
"She told Madison that she was lost and needed to find her mom,” said Ashley Miles, Madison’s mother. “They just ran off the bus. The driver didn't ask for a pink slip or nothing. Madison came in and said Olivia is lost, can you find her mommy."
Olivia’s mother said she was extremely upset when she was called by another parent to pick up her daughter from their home.
"They said they put Olivia on bus six and she took it upon herself to get off bus six to get on another bus. She's 5, they are adults,” said Stacy Hopwood. “There are measures that are put in place to keep kids from doing this, but yet they still let her get off the bus."
Superintendent Jeffery Hubble issued a statement following the incident:
Greencastle Community School Corporation deeply regrets that this situation occurred and is reviewing procedure to ensure that we do everything possible to never let this occur again.
Stacy said because of the incident, Olivia will now be homeschooled.
"There are a lot of sex offenders that live in Putnam County,” she said. “Dropping her off in their yard that's all it would have taken. They don't understand the gravity of the situation. How bad it could have been."
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