‘Highly disturbing’: Six nonverbal students unaccounted for hours after Brooklyn school bus goes off route

Six nonverbal students with special needs were unaccounted for for more than four hours after their school bus traveled to multiple incorrect schools, according to an investigation by the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District (SCI). According to a report released by SCI on Oct. 16, the students, ages 6 to 8, were supposed to be dropped off at P.S. 289, also known as the “Brower School,” in Crown Heights between 8:20 and 9 a.m. on Dec. 16, 2025, but did not arrive until 1:25 p.m., prompting school officials to contact the DOE’s Office of Pupil Transportation (OPT) and the NYPD. A concerned parent who had placed AirTags in her two children’s backpacks alerted SCI after noticing that the bus was traveling to different locations in Brooklyn instead of taking her children to school. School officials repeatedly tried to contact the bus company, Consolidated Bus Transit Inc., a family-run school bus and commuter transportation provider based in Brooklyn