LITTLE RIVER-ACADEMY, Texas — An Academy Independent School District kindergarten student is now too traumatized to ride the bus after she was left behind and stuck in the bus yard, according to her mother, Destiny Shelton.
Shelton told 6 News that after morning routes finished Tuesday, the driver parked the bus at the district's bus barn and left her sleeping child behind.
Both Shelton and her husband received an automated call at 8:16 a.m. from the child's school saying the kindergartener was tardy.
"He calls immediately right after - you know, hey now there is no way, she was sent on the bus," Shelton described the phone call her husband had with the district.
Their 5-year-old daughter had gotten on her correct bus, just never made it to her classroom, she said.
Worried and fearful, Shelton says the school district told her she could possibly be in the cafeteria or bathroom. That was the last she heard from them until 9:45 a.m. when they said the student was found.
Shelton says she wasn't told they were looking for her, confirmed that she was really missing or even called immediately after she was found.
Shelton says what led to the child's missing status is on the hands of an Academy ISD bus driver and district leaders.
"As a person working with children, when it comes to rules, I feel like that's not something you can say 'hey I'm going to skip this today because it can be detrimental, it can be someone's life as it could've been my daughters," Shelton said.
According to Shelton, the bus driver parked the bus at 7:45 a.m., went to the back of the bus to turn the alarm off, didn't check any seat and walked out of the bus.
"Did not see my daughter, completely missed my daughter," she said.
The 5-year-old had fallen asleep on the bus and was left behind, stuck in the bus yard, she said.
Shelton says video shows the young student waking up on the bus scared, then screaming and crying. Somehow, the kindergartener was able to get off the school bus and ran around looking for help in the bus yard.
The student was found by a district teacher but Shelton says she wasn't notified immediately.
"I'm grateful, there's no words that can express how grateful that my daughter is alive and ok," she added. "She's traumatized but she's ok. But, just because she's ok, doesn't take away the seriousness."
Shelton said this is her daughter's first year of school and that she is now terrified and traumatized of the school bus. Shelton says her daughter is refusing to ride the bus at this time.
"For me to hear her voice on the phone crack and when I'm asking her if she's ok for her to tell me 'no, not ok,'" she said.
Shelton told 6 News the bus driver who left her daughter behind isn't driving the bus route anymore. She said that isn't enough and she is calling on the district to own up to the mistake and fix it.
"I want to look into maybe the school actually looking into the procedures, their stuff, on what they do to keep this from happening," she said. "Not only to make it better but also so it doesn't happen again to her own or any other student leaning on Academy ISD."
6 News reached out to AISD and Superintendent Billy Harlan provided a statement saying:
"AISD administration was notified on Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2021, that a student had been left on a bus after the morning routes were run. Student safety has always been and remains a District priority. The District is actively investigating this incident and cannot comment on any specifics in regards to the student or personnel involved."
Bell County Sheriff's Department confirmed with 6 News they are looking into the matter.