POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Students at Lighthouse Christian School were excited for a trip to the science museum in West Palm, Tuesday morning, but when the school bus came to pick them up, parents said they saw something disturbing.
Parents noticed a shredded tire on the bus, and they wouldn’t allow their children to board it for the trip to West Palm Beach.
“No, it does not look good. It immediately alarmed me,” one mom said. “It was a large tear.”
“I would never allow my child on that bus,” another parent, Angela Sisson, said.
One dad snapped photos of the tires.
“I was like shocked that I was seeing this tire coming apart on the bus that was taking 35 children to West Palm Beach on I-95,” one parent, Pierre Gaudrau, said.
Parents wouldn’t let any of the children board the bus.
“Who can tell when a tire’s gonna go, but you certainly can’t let your kids go with that visible sign of delamination,” Myles Loese, a parent, said.
Gaudrau said the school’s staff agreed with parents.
“The principal came and looked at the tire and the teachers came and looked at the tire, and they all agreed that this tire was coming apart,” he said.
But the bus company, A1A Transportation, insists there is nothing wrong with the tire.
The company’s transportation director would not speak on camera but did tell 7News over the phone that the tire was not a safety issue but a “cosmetic bead.” He said the tire was checked by a state inspector and that it meets and exceeds the standards of the law.
“Absolutely not. It was not cosmetic,” Sisson said. “There was actually a tear in that tire.”
The company sent another bus, but they said that was only as a courtesy, not because of safety.
“Even if they saw a little, tiny tear, I don’t think a parent would want their child to go on that bus. This was just blatant and obvious,” Loese said.
“I would never dream of even taking that tire five minutes from here with the precious cargo that we have on that bus,” said another parent.
The company said they stand by the safety of the tire. However, parents said this isn’t over and that they want to make sure their kids and other children will be safe. “We will be contacting FDOT. We would like a full investigation on this company for the safety of our kids and all kids in every school that utilizes their services,” said Sisson.
The parents said they have filed a police report.
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