Cheltenham five-year-old left at the wrong bus stop, alone on the second day of school

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that Cameron Nelson, a kindergartner at Cheltenham Elementary, was dropped off at the wrong bus stop, lost with no adults to supervise him, the first week of school.

“Our five-year-old son was nowhere to be found,” Isaiah Nelson wrote in a letter sent to Cheltenham officials. “The panic set in immediately.”

Cameron, who has autism, was spotted by a local couple who stayed with him until his parents arrived.

Cameron’s mother, Shaquis Davenport, and her husband drove Cameron to his first day of school on Monday, but Cameron wanted to ride the bus the next day. She and her husband thought it would be a good experience for him.

Brian W. Scriven, Cheltenham’s superintendent, said the district responded “immediately, and with the seriousness it warranted, including notifying and working with our bus contractor, Cheltenham Transportation, and opening an investigation.”

Scriven has “tremendous empathy for the student and their family for what they went through,” he said in a statement. “Student safety is a top priority in our district and we will continue to work to provide a safe, welcoming environment for all of our students.”

An official who answered the phone at Cheltenham Transportation, the private company that operates the district’s buses, declined to comment, and emailed requests for comment were not answered.

For the full story, read the The Philadelphia Inquirer’s article. Photo courtesy of the Nelson family.