Long Island parents outraged after 5-year-old dropped off at wrong bus stop

LONG ISLAND - Parents on Long Island are outraged after they say their five-year-old son was dropped off at the wrong school bus stop after school. 

The first day of kindergarten for Rafael Mangual’s son was scarier than it should’ve been. 

Mangual's son never made it to the after-school program he was supposed to go to. Instead, Mangual says he was dropped off at the wrong bus stop more than a mile away.

"Unfortunately, we were never able to experience a normal day," he said.

Mangual says a Good Samaritan saw his son walking on a busy street as he was driving by. They got in touch with the police and the principal, who called his wife, who then called him.

"I wasn't supposed to pick him up until the end of the day, but that's when she told me he had been found in the street, which was just insane to me," he said.

Mangual blames the bus driver who works for Guardian Bus Company.

"It’s not just letting the child off the bus at the wrong stop despite the fact that he was holding a placard with his bus written on it in big block letters but also that she drove off without confirming there was someone there to meet him," he said.

The East Meadow School District says in a statement they’re working with Guardian Bus "to ensure the incident described never happens again" but a petition demanding strict enforcement of safety protocols created prior makes Mangual question whether what happened to his son is part of a bigger problem.

A spokesperson for Guardian Bus Company told FOX 5 they're aware of the incident, and they sincerely apologized. The driver was removed from the route, disciplined at a formal union hearing and retrained on proper drop off protocol.

Guardian Bus also says they are in communication with the school district and will continue to strive to be the safest company on the road and build back trust.

"There should be matrons on the buses to make sure the right people are there to pick them up," Mangual said.

While Mangual says he doesn’t plan to file charges, he is calling for accountability.

"We’re not talking about a backpack," he said. "We’re talking about a human being. [If] you lose a five-year-old human being, you ought to lose your job."