CHESTER, Mass. (WGGB/WSHM) -- New details are emerging from Chester, regarding a frightening incident within Gateway Regional School District. The superintendent has now revealed new information about a school bus that went missing for hours last week.

Superintendent Melissa Matarazzo has sent a letter to families, students, and staff, walking them through the timeline of events that day. She says it is an effort to show the district’s commitment to honesty and openness.

Matarazzo also outlined steps to prevent it from happening again.

On January 20th, six students at Chester Elementary School boarded their bus to head home when their driver suddenly suffered a medical emergency.

The driver veered off from her normal route and spent nearly an hour and a half driving aimlessly through the area with no clear direction.

Many parents noticed the bus was running late, contacted the bus company and the school’s main office, but received no response.

Eventually one parent was told by the company they didn’t know where the bus was and couldn’t reach the driver by phone or radio. Police were then notified, and an alert was issued.

While authorities were searching, superintendent Matarazzo says some families even took it upon themselves to try and track the bus down.

Within an hour, Russell police located the bus on Route 20 in Chester and confirmed all students were safe and accounted for.

The superintendent’s letter explaining in short, “We believe that the driver stopped the bus there to contact the company and let them know she was lost.”

While the bus driver was evaluated and taken to the hospital, a second bus brought the students home, accompanied by police, to ensure their safe arrival.

In her letter, Matarazzo confirmed the bus driver will no longer work for Gateway Regional.

She also outlined three immediate steps the district is taking, so an incident like this never happens again:

A permanent driver will be identified soon, according to the school district.

The superintendent ended her letter saying she’s spoken directly to each of the families impacted. Other parents who have reached out with concerns should be getting a response from her this week.

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