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School Bus Driver Fired For Dropping Kids Off At Park, Not Home

School Bus Driver Fired

UPDATED: 8/21/2013 4:25 p.m.

MORRIS, Ill. (CBS) -- A southwest suburban school bus driver has been fired, after dropping several students off at a park, rather than taking them home on the first day of class on Tuesday.

Morris Elementary School District 54 Supt. Teri Shaw told WBBM Newsradio's Regine Schlesinger she doesn't know why the driver dropped all 20 students from White Oak Elementary at a local park Tuesday afternoon.

"He displayed just a poor lack of judgment, and we've dealt with that appropriately, and swiftly," she said.

The children, ranging from kindergartners to 5th graders, all eventually got home safe.

"Fortunately, some of those kids had siblings on the bus, and everybody got home, and there were some parents there who saw the bus driver letting kids off, and also helped facilitate those children find their way home," Shaw said. "The big picture is every child arrived home safely."

The driver was fired.

"There's a different driver on that bus today, and there's also a monitor on that bus with the driver, to make sure that there's enough grown-up attention for those kids, to make sure they get off at the right stop," Shaw said.

Donna Shelton's daughter was in that group dropped off at the park.

"She was just hysterical, she was in tears," she told CBS 2's Chris Martinez.

And that wasn't the only problem.

Lisa Davison's kids were put on the wrong bus entirely.

"All the other kids got off the bus and were walking to their houses, mine were nowhere to be found."

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