Guidelines that allow Howard County school bus drivers to drop off sick children at home before reaching school are likely to be reevaluated after an Ellicott City mother questioned why her 5-year-old son was dropped off near his home recently with a bloody nose, a top school official said this week.

The provision might not be appropriate in certain circumstances, school board chairman Frank Aquino said.

"I'm not sure that's a viable option in every situation," he said. "I think the procedures need to be reviewed. I think there are other enhancements that should be considered."

Ellicott City parent Lori Gerohristodoulos drew attention to the bus procedures last week when she questioned why her 5-year-old son was let off his school bus shortly after boarding it because he got a bloody nose.

Gerohristodoulos said she was angry that her injured son and his two older brothers could have been released from the bus to an empty house because the driver did not check to see if she was still at home.

The incident occurred Sept. 17 along Old Columbia Pike. After seeing her three sons off at their bus stop Gerohristodoulos was shocked when the boys returned to her doorstep 15 minutes later, her youngest crying and bleeding from his nose and mouth.

On most days, Gerohristodoulos would have left home shortly after her sons boarded their bus for Veterans Elementary School at 8:30 a.m., but on that particular day she was at home preparing for a 10 a.m. appointment, she said.

According to the children, 5-year-old Timothy got a bloody nose and a cut above his mouth when the bus hit a bump, jostling the riders and causing his face to hit the window. The bus was picking up students along Old Columbia Pike, and the driver let Timothy and his brothers, Michael, 9, and Loucas, 8, off the bus across the street from their bus stop and house at about 8:50 a.m.

Mom: policy flawed

School officials say bus drivers have the option of dropping children off at their bus stop if the child becomes ill, but Gerohristodoulos says the schools' policy is flawed and would like to see it changed.

Gerohristodoulos lodged a complaint about the Sept. 17 incident with the Board of Education last week, she said.

Aquino said he called Gerohristodoulos to discuss the incident Sunday afternoon and Monday morning, leaving her a message.

"Suffice it to say there's a procedure for this sort of situation and that procedure was not followed," Aquino said. "I think the child should have been transported to school."

The bus driver guidelines are separate from the transportation policy controlled by the school board, Aquino said.

However, all school policies and procedures are subject to regular reevaluation, and he expects this one to be reviewed because of the Sept. 17 incident, Aquino said.

Gerohristodoulos said she questions the judgment of the driver and considers his failure to confirm that she or her husband was at home to receive the children to be negligent.

"It's not a difficult decision to make," she said. "I don't think these drivers are trained well enough."

Two options for drivers

Howard schools transportation director David Drown said guidelines in the system's bus driver handbook offer drivers two options in handling a situation in which a child becomes ill after boarding the bus.

The driver can either continue on the route to school and tell the child to report directly to the nurse's office or an administrator, or the driver can return the child home by dropping him or her off at their assigned bus stop after making sure the child will be left with a parent or responsible adult.

While the driver had the discretion to drop off the children, he didn't follow the procedure properly because he dropped them off across Old Columbia Pike from their house, Drown said.

"We want to be sure we drop them off where we pick them up, so they don't have to cross any roads they normally wouldn't cross," he said. "He did not follow procedure to the letter."

Drown said his department has been criticized by parents like Gerohristodoulos, who would prefer their sick child continue on to school rather than risk returning to an empty house, as well as by parents upset that their sick child wasn't brought home after boarding the bus only minutes earlier.

"Our bus drivers are human beings and we require them to make many, many judgment calls every day," Drown said. "This is one of those situations where a bus driver might have made a different decision than a parent would have."

Carol Williams, owner of AA Affordable Transportation, the Baltimore-based contractor who covers the Gerohristodoulos' children's route, said that as a general rule she tells her drivers to continue on their route and deliver a sick child to school, where the health office can attend to the child.

The driver, one of Williams' part-time employees, did not return a message left at the office for him seeking comment on the incident.

This article has been updated from an earlier version.

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