Two teens ride unassigned Broughton bus, driver calls them homeless; WCPSS probes

Two adolescents boarded a Broughton Magnet High School bus in Raleigh on Thursday without being assigned to that route, rode it to the route’s end and were ordered off, prompting a Wake County Public School System transportation investigation into how they got on the bus and whether they are district students. No physical injuries were reported, and school officials have said they are reviewing safeguards.

Broughton Principal Janiece Dilts described the riders as “adolescents” in a school message and wrote, “The driver immediately had them exit the bus.” Dilts said Broughton is working with district transportation officials to review the incident and “make sure safeguards are in place to prevent an incident like this from happening again.”

The district reiterated standard safety practice that “Student safety is always our first priority in school and on the bus. Our practice is not to drop off any kindergarten or first grade students at a bus stop by themselves, and our bus drivers are trained accordingly.” District officials have placed the driver involved on non-driving duties pending a transportation investigation; the driver was substituting on the route Thursday.

Investigators have not released the adolescents’ names or confirmed whether they attend Wake County schools. District staff have not provided the bus route number or the exact location of the route’s end where the riders exited. WCPSS transportation staff are reviewing the event as part of routine follow-up and to determine whether procedural or staff changes are needed.

The incident arrives as part of a cluster of recent Wake County bus safety concerns. In a separate case, 14-year-old Enloe High School freshman Shanya Hunter reported that a man asked to use her phone at a bus stop near Camden and Davie Streets, followed her onto her bus and was arrested; the suspect, identified as 35-year-old Jermaine Johnson, is being held at the Wake County Detention Center on a $500,000 secure bond on charges of trespassing and misdemeanor stalking after the ride ended near Tarboro and Gatling. Hunter told reporters, “He asked to use someone's phone and I let him use mine,” and “I just stopped because I was shocked.” Her mother Rita Hunter recounted police ending the incident and said the family will now have her father walk her to the stop.

About three weeks earlier, a separate mix-up left a first-grader, Ty Wright, dropped off without a parent; Ty said, “I was wondering where my momma was at,” and his father Vernis Wright described feeling “furious and scared.” WCPSS issued an apology in that case and emphasized existing policies that young children not be left at stops alone.

District officials explored a 2024 proposal to require students to scan barcodes when boarding and exiting buses to verify eligibility and give parents better tracking; the current status of that proposal remains unclear. WCPSS transportation staff have said they will examine whether additional verification, training or technology is warranted after the Broughton incident and the recent string of bus safety complaints.