An NYC school bus driver left six nonverbal special education students on a bus for nearly four and a half hours last December, including one child who was found lying in a seat soaked in her own urine, investigators said Friday.
Driver Eric Chery missed the morning drop-off window at PS 289 in Crown Heights on Dec. 16, 2025, and drove between the wrong schools, according to Anastasia Coleman, the Special Commissioner of Investigation for the New York City School District.
“It is highly disturbing that six nonverbal children were left on a school bus for hours while their whereabouts remained unknown to school officials,” Coleman said in a statement.
“These particularly vulnerable students rely on the adults entrusted with their care to ensure their safety.”
The bus was expected to arrive between 8:20 and 9 a.m. Instead, Chery did not reach the school until 1:25 p.m.—nearly five hours behind schedule.
School employees contacted Consolidated Bus Transit, the contractor that employed Chery, at about 10 a.m. but did not receive a response.
GPS records from the Department of Education later showed Chery outside one student’s home as late as 10:59 a.m., even though he reportedly told officials that all six students had been picked up by 10 a.m.
The mother of two of the students used tracking devices placed inside their backpacks and discovered that her children were being driven across Brooklyn.
At 11:45 a.m., a bus dispatcher told school staff that Chery was lost and would arrive within 15 minutes.
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The bus never arrived as promised, prompting school officials to report the children missing to the NYPD.
When the bus finally pulled into P.S. 289—also known as “The Brower School”—in Crown Heights at around 1:25 p.m., staff inspected the vehicle and found one student lying flat on the bus floor, investigators said. The child had urinated on herself, removed her diaper and leggings, and was soaking wet.
Germina Thomas, a bus matron with nearly 20 years of experience, told investigators that she did not speak with Chery during the morning trip. She also made no attempt to contact the school, the bus depot or anyone else for assistance.
It was not immediately clear whether Chery had been arrested.
Councilmember Gale Brewer said school bus delays in New York City are a recurring problem.
“As the former Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Investigations, I held hearings on this issue in November 2022, issued reports, and requested audits,” Brewer said in a statement.
“At the time, 350 school buses experienced delays daily, and the problem continues,” she said.
“SCI has highlighted one important case affecting several students, their families, and their schools, but this is not an isolated situation.”
Consolidated Bus Transit, the Special Commissioner of Investigation and the NYC Department of Education did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
The NYPD is investigating the incident and could not immediately provide The Post with additional information.
