Seattle Public Schools working to make sure transit confusion doesn’t repeat

Seattle Public Schools administration is investigating a misunderstanding that led a woman to believe a driver of a van was trying to lure her child on Wednesday.

The district will make sure drivers show proper identification and follow protocol, schools spokeswoman Stacy Howard said.

“We’re going to make sure he and the company are doing everything right when they are picking up any of our students,” she said.

The company the driver works for is a national company, contracted by the school district. The company is hired to transport special needs students. Many of the company’s vans are unmarked, Howard said.

The driver became the subject of a luring investigation.

The man tried to pick up the wrong child to bring the student to school on Wednesday, according to Howard. It was the first day on the job for the driver and proper protocol was not followed.

“It was a big misunderstanding,” Howard said.
The incident occurred near 34th Avenue West and Brygger Drive West.

The stickers verifying the van as a school district vehicle were not visible because the windows are tinted. Drivers are also required to idle for a few minutes before they leave, according to Howard.

A language barrier between the man and the woman may have further confused the situation, Howard said.

The school district was on the same page as the rest of the community when the incident was reported, Howard said. District officials followed protocol for a luring situation, she said.

The Seattle Police Department contacted the man and verified he is a driver for a legitimate business. There is no further investigation.

The woman and her child were waiting for the school bus when the man drove up, Seattle Detective Drew Fowler said.

She refused to let her child go with the man when he said he was there to pick up the child.

“The woman was rightly suspicious,” Fowler said.