Mom outraged after school bus leaves 5-year-old at wrong stop on Long Island
A school bus company says it has disciplined a driver after she dropped a 5-year-old off at the wrong bus stop on Long Island last week.
The child had to find her own way home.
Ni-Ima Lattimer, the mother of little Ka'Mylah, was outraged after her daughter knocked on her front door on Sept. 8.
"Why would you let a 5-year-old little girl walk home by herself?" Lattimer said.
The girl was supposed to be picked up and dropped off for school not from her home, but from daycare.
"She said, 'Mommy, they dropped me off on the street, and I came home like a big girl,'" Lattimer said.
Lattimer said she's relieved she was home to answer the door for her child.
The driver and bus matron apparently bypassed the daycare location and mistakenly dropped Ka'Mylah somewhere in between, and the child navigated her way home on her own.
The daycare is around the corner, but Lattimer has concerns.
"She could have been hit by a car. She could have been kidnapped. She could have wandered off and me and other daycare providers wouldn't have known. I'm sorry, but this is not right," Lattimer said.
"It is district protocol that drivers release kindergarten students to a designated caregiver. We understand the concern this caused and are thankful the student is okay," the First Student Bus Company said. "The driver has been removed from service within the district, is receiving additional training on routes and stops, and strong disciplinary action is being taken."
Lattimer said she is speaking out for parents to beware.
"They just switched them to another route to be another parent's headache or heartache. Because you never know when this might happen again, or what might happen," she said.
Lattimer said she congratulated her daughter for being a big girl and able to find her way home on her own, and met with the new bus driver to ensure this doesn't happen again.
