Guardian Bus Company under fire after 5-year-old East Meadow student left at wrong stop

Rafael Mangual's 5-year-old son was excited for his first day of kindergarten in the East Meadow school district before a joyful occasion for the family recently turned into a parent's worst nightmare.

A school bus driver dropped off the child at the wrong stop in an unfamiliar neighborhood more than 2 miles from his Eisenhower Park day care center, according to Mangual. He said a good Samaritan in a passing vehicle found his son wandering on Merrick Avenue four-tenths of a mile from the bus stop and stopped to assist before someone else alerted school officials. 

Mangual, 38, blames the bus driver, an employee of Guardian Bus Company of Oceanside, for failing to verify that his son, who was holding a placard identifying his bus stop, was getting off at the right destination. The driver, he said, also failed to verify that a parent was present to pick up the child. 

Video that school district officials provided through the bus company shows the driver asking the boy if his mother is waiting outside, Mangual said. But his son doesn't answer and the driver leaves without checking if a parent is present, according to the father.

Newsday isn't identifying the child or his school because of his family's concerns about safety.

"He could have been found by anybody," said Mangual, a criminal justice fellow at the think tank Manhattan Institute. "He could have tried to cross Merrick Avenue and been hit by a car. He could have gotten really scared and decided to hide someplace that would have been hard to find."

Growing concerns 

Corey Muirhead, executive vice president of Guardian, said the bus driver in question "was removed from the route and disciplined at a formal union hearing."

He wouldn't release the driver's name or comment on the form of discipline, saying the company "cannot discuss the particulars of this incident with anyone but the school district."

East Meadow schools Superintendent Kenneth Rosner said in a statement that district officials are working with Guardian "to ensure the incident described never happens again" and that they "take all matters of student safety seriously."

But he said the district "is unable to discuss personnel matters, especially since the employee in question does not work for the East Meadow school district."

Transport Workers Union Local 252, which represents Guardian drivers, didn't respond to a request for comment.

Mangual isn't alone in his concerns about the actions of Guardian drivers.

A petition an Oceanside school district parent started on Sept. 26 calls on the New York State Department of Transportation to take immediate action to address what the petition alleges is an "alarming disregard for safety protocols exhibited by many of the Guardian Bus school bus drivers."

The Change.org petition, sparked separately from the East Meadow incident and signed by many Oceanside parents, had more than 250 signatures Tuesday.

Interviews and the petition show parents have alleged some Guardian drivers drove recklessly, blew stop signs, tailgated other vehicles and looked down at cellphones while behind the wheel.

Fleet 'in good standing'

Guardian owns and maintains a fleet of more than 500 buses and mini wagons, and it services Nassau school districts that include East Meadow, Oceanside, Bellmore-Merrick, Baldwin, Freeport, Lawrence, Malverne, Rockville Centre, Uniondale, Valley Stream and Hewlett, according to company and union literature. 

State transportation records show Guardian school buses underwent 1,182 inspections in the 2023-2024 fiscal year and just four were taken out of service — a failure rate of 0.33%.

"Guardian Bus Company’s fleet is currently in good standing with the State Department of Transportation’s semiannual bus inspection program," DOT spokesman Joseph Morrissey said in a statement, adding that the agency has no active investigations against the company.

In recent years, Guardian drivers have been involved in a host of crashes, including the following, which police said didn't involve criminality:

• A February 2021 fatal crash in Oceanside in which a Guardian bus fatally struck an 81-year-old pedestrian.
• A March 2022 crash in Merrick when a Guardian bus hit a pickup truck, before fatally striking a 70-year-old pedestrian and smashing into a dry cleaning store. 
• A May 2023 crash where a Guardian bus struck a pickup truck in East Meadow, sending 13 students and the driver to the hospital with minor injuries.

A Newsday review of state court records showed Guardian is a defendant in a total of 19 pending lawsuits in Nassau, Suffolk, Queens and Brooklyn — all involving crashes with injuries — that have been filed since 2022. 

'Red flags'

Petition organizer Cynthia Lagudi, who has two children in Oceanside schools, said she became concerned after witnessing a Guardian driver repeatedly looking at his phone while driving.

"There are a lot of good bus drivers who follow the rules and adhere to policies," said Lagudi, 42. "But I'm worried about the bad seeds who are not looking out for the kids' safety and are not being held accountable by the company. Guardian is not taking our concerns seriously and it raises red flags for the community."

Muirhead insists Guardian is a safe company that adheres to state and local regulations.

"We understand the concerns of the Oceanside residents and we hear them loud and clear," he said of the petition. "We want to assure the community that Guardian Bus is one of the safest bus companies in Long Island. We want to apologize and promise that Guardian Bus is committed to driving safely and the safety of the children we transport in addition to being a good neighbor."

The state Department of Motor Vehicles didn't provide an answer Tuesday about whether any Guardian drivers have had their licenses suspended or revoked in connection with on-duty performance behind the wheel.

Phyllis Harrington, superintendent of Oceanside schools, said in a statement Tuesday the district has "a long-standing successful partnership with the Guardian Bus Company."

She added that the company transports 1,869 Oceanside students daily, and Guardian officials participate in districtwide safety committee meetings and "are always accessible to us for any questions or concerns."

Dashboard cameras installed

Muirhead said the company this year made a six-figure investment in its fleet by installing dashboard cameras on all buses "to give us further insight if drivers have dangerous driving behavior such as cellphone use, speeding, harsh acceleration, breaking or other distracted driving related incidents."

He added: "We are committed to gaining back the trust of our community."

But Lisbeth Salazar, 40, of Oceanside, said Guardian lost her trust last month when her 5-year-old son, Ethan Crespo, came home from school crying and with a large bump on his forehead.

Salazar, who signed the petition, said neither school nor bus officials told her that Ethan smashed his head on a window before she complained and asked to watch a bus video from that day.

"The lack of accountability and blatant disregard for student safety is alarming," said Salazar.

The bus company said Tuesday that Ethan had been leaning his head on the window when the bus hit a bump and should have been seated upright.

School district officials said they reviewed the video and had a school nurse examine the 5-year-old after Salazar filed a complaint the next day, giving her assurances the district "will continue, as always, to adhere to all safety protocols."

By Robert Brodsky

robert.brodsky@newsday.com@BrodskyRobert

Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.