New Jersey Boy Left Asleep on School Bus, Found Wandering District Bus Yard

August 11, 2026

A 9-year-old boy who fell asleep on a school bus was left inside the vehicle and later found wandering a New Jersey school district’s transportation yard, reported ABC News.

Wanda Chandler said via the news report that her son boarded the bus about 8 a.m. Thursday for his final day of summer classes at Union Valley Elementary School in Blackwood. About two and a half hours later, Gloucester Township Public Schools called to say he had not arrived.

Chandler reportedly said the boy fell asleep during the ride and awoke alone on an empty bus parked at the district’s bus yard. He figured out how to open the door, got off and searched for help.

“I got off the bus and looked for anyone,” he said via the article. “I found this man, so I asked him, ‘Do you know where I can go back?”

He continued, “I was trying to be a big boy, so I just acted brave and normal,” he said via the report.

A district employee found him in the parking lot, asked his name and age and brought him inside, Chandler told local news reporters. The district told her that Child Protective Services had been notified. Her son was later taken to school for the rest of the day.

Chandler said officials had not told her how long her son was asleep on the bus or alone in the yard. She said he has attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and the incident could have ended differently. “Thank God he’s safe, that’s number one, but what if he didn’t wake up?” she said via the article. “What if he walked out into that bus depot and a stranger took him?”

Chandler said her family recently moved into the district and enrolled the boy in the five-week summer program partly so he could become comfortable riding a school bus before the new academic year. She called the incident “unacceptable” and said the district had assured her that a driver and an aide were assigned to the bus.