A tense MSAD 72 school committee meeting Monday night erupted with calls for accountability after a seven-year-old special-needs student disappeared for more than five hours during district-arranged transportation last week.
Kate Joy, the child’s mother, confronted the board with sharp, unanswered questions about where her daughter was taken, why the district failed to communicate with her as the hours passed, and why MSAD 72 continued using First Act, operated by First Transit, for days after the incident.
Community activist Tricia Burnell sharply criticized the committee members over their handling of the incident, warning that voters expect transparency and consequences. “We vote you in and we can vote you out,” she told the board.
The Oxford County Sheriff’s Office confirmed to The Maine Wire that it is actively investigating the incident. Major Dana Thompson said, “We are investigating the event, but to make a statement now would be premature. I do plan to do a press release on this once we are ready… the detective is still working the case.”
First Transit issued its own statement to The Maine Wire, stating:
“We regret the concern caused during a student’s trip on Wednesday morning. Safety and reliability are our highest priorities, and we are reinforcing protocols to prevent this from happening again. The driver was fully vetted through Fort Alt’s rigorous background checks, including Maine’s Criminal History Record Check process. We have cooperated fully with local law enforcement. We apologize for the disruption and the worry this caused. We remain committed to providing safe, dependable transportation for students.”
The district has stated that they have stopped using the company.
After public comments, the committee abruptly moved into executive session. Chair Beth Bosworth stated only that an email update would be sent to parents. Several attendees told The Maine Wire they left the meeting frustrated by what they described as dismissive treatment of Joy’s concerns and the trauma caused by her daughter being missing for more than five hours.
Joy recounted calling 911 after more than three hours without word on her daughter’s whereabouts. She said she had to give police a physical description of her child when the girl should have already been en route to her placement school. Joy later learned her daughter had been taken to Lewiston, though she still does not know precisely where.
Joy said she is working with investigators to determine why the driver traveled so far off course and where her daughter was during the missing hours. She questioned the district’s lack of GPS tracking, communication failures, and what she called a “systemic breakdown” in MSAD 72’s handling of special-needs transportation.
She further criticized the district for continuing to transport other students with First Act after the incident without notifying parents, calling it a procedural failure that demands accountability.
Although her daughter was ultimately found physically safe, Joy told The Maine Wire she still has no clear answers about what happened. She said information the district provided about traffic delays does not match what law enforcement has confirmed. Joy said she also shared information her daughter disclosed with investigators, who are now working to piece together the events of that morning.
Joy added that First Transit’s risk department contacted her Monday, telling her the company is conducting its own internal review. She said she wants an independent review as well.
Joy says she’s looking for change. She wants to make sure no other parent has to go through what she did.
“This should never happen under any circumstance,” she said. Others attending Monday night’s meeting clearly agreed.
Watch our interview with Joy:
