PLANO, Texas—The Plano Independent School District will be giving additional training to bus drivers after a 4-year-old pre-K student was placed on the wrong bus after school and went missing for more than an hour.
It happened on Wednesday according to the student’s mother, Linda Richardson. She told WFAA that her son’s daycare called her when he didn’t make it onto their bus.
Richardson’s son, Elijah, is supposed to board a van that takes him to Creative Kids Daycare after school. He even wears a badge that tells the staff at Forman Elementary, which after-school transportation he’s supposed to take. “The daycare called me and said they were there to pick up Elijah, but that he was lost,” Richardson said.
According to Richardson, she rushed to the school to get answers. “There was a big knot in my stomach, my heart was racing, and it was the ugliest feeling ever,” Richardson said.
Richardson says after she arrived, the school got a call from the daycare saying Elijah was found by a teenager alone at the Gateway Crossing apartments—which is about 2 miles from the school.
Plano ISD confirmed to WFAA that Elijah somehow was put on the wrong bus and was left by himself by a regular bus driver—something they say should have never happened because drivers aren’t supposed to drop off pre-K students unless there’s a parent or approved guardian present to receive them.
Elijah was missing from 2:45 p.m. to 3:53 p.m., according to Richardson. “That teen basically saved my son’s life,” Richardson said. “Anyone else could have got him. You don’t just leave a baby like that—it’s unacceptable.”
The district sent this statement to WFAA Friday afternoon saying, “Plano ISD administrators have reviewed the circumstances surrounding the unfortunate placement of a student on the wrong bus this week, and it is evident that there was a breakdown of processes and procedures across the board in this instance.”
It continues saying, “At the campus level, the school has made necessary changes in an effort to correct the system and rebuild the relationship and trust with this family, and to safeguard against anything like this occurring again. The school has committed to contacting the student’s mom daily to notify her when her child is picked up by the appropriate childcare center vehicle. The school has implemented changes in the pick-up process to make a clear distinction between the locations for school buses and childcare center vehicles.”
The quote also said that the district is going to be administering additional training to bus drivers regarding processes and procedures.
It also mentioned that students will be wearing brighter neon badges at Forman Elementary from here on out to distinguish which after-school transportation they take.
We asked Plano ISD if any employees had been reprimanded or fired, but a spokesperson said the district was still investigating the matter and wouldn't comment further.