Mother furious after 6-year-old son left alone on bus at Philadelphia daycare
PHILADELPHIA - A local mother is speaking out against a Philadelphia daycare after she says her 6-year-old son was left alone on a school bus and had to find his way back into the building.
Terralyn Jackson told FOX 29 that her son, Zaadyn, was picked up from school on Friday for an after school program at the Rock Foundation Early Learning Academy in West Oak Lane.
Zaadyn ended up falling asleep on the bus during transit and when the bus arrived at the daycare, he was left behind for approximately 15-17 minutes, Jackson said.
Zaadyn said he was awoken by the unseasonably warm temperatures that climbed into the mid-80s on Friday, and he found his way off the bus and through the daycare's front gate.
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"If he did not know how to get through the gate, which the lock is very high, he would’ve been on Ogontz Avenue just randomly there," Jackson said.
Jackson said a parent let Zaadyn in through the main entrance of the daycare. A staff member then drove Zaadyn in the personal vehicle to get water ice, which the school claims was a soothing mechanism.
"I’m a single parent trying to do what’s right and best for my child and I trusted someone to take care of my child while I’m at work doing the right thing,"
Rock Foundation Early Learning Academy Director Carine Dorlus told FOX 29 that the whole incident was an accident and a mistake. The daycare claims a headcount and sweep of the bus was not done properly and that they've since retrained employees on new procedures.