LIVONIA, Mich. (WXYZ) — The Livonia Public School district has launched an investigation after a special needs student was left on a school bus for hours.
The incident happened on Friday. The parents of 5-year-old Jemi Gittins say their daughter was left all alone at the bus yard for at least 4 hours with no food, water, or access to a restroom.
"I put Jemi on the bus at 8:15, her normal bus time. I did notice there was a substitute bus driver, which I saw. I went grocery shopping, did my daily stuff, pulled in the driveway, got a phone call at 1 o clock saying Jemi was found in the bus yard in the bus by a maintenance man," said Stacy Gittins of her daughter. "On Friday I was just shocked. Over the weekend, I just developed more and more anger. Like how could this happen?"
Gittins says her child was found by the maintenance worker because she was tapping on the window. She says because of the long period of time she was stuck on the bus, the child had soiled herself.
Gittins says her daughter was one of a handful of special needs students on the dedicated bus Friday morning. She says she's grateful her daughter was not physically hurt but being left alone on the bus for hours has had an impact.
"Now I’m scared sending my daughter off to school on the bus or any of my kids. Thank goodness Jemi is very resilient. She was telling me that she was crying. She’s not 100% vocal but when I asked her if she wanted to ride the bus she screams no. So I do know that it has affected her," said Gittins.
Monday morning, the child's family and the district met to determine what went wrong.
The district sent the following statement to 7 Action News:
On Friday midday, we learned that a student had been left on a school bus after the bus had returned to the bus yard. Upon this discovery, discussions and interviews immediately took place, including in-person meetings and calls with the parent on Friday and again this morning.
First, and foremost, we are incredibly distraught by this incident and we share in the parent’s serious concern. The district has cross-check procedures in place to prevent this from ever happening. Obviously, those procedures were not followed, and the district continues to investigate when, where and how the lapse occurred.
We care deeply about every child in our care, and we know that it is our responsibility to ensure that the thousands of children whom we transport to and from school each day are safe and accounted for. We take this responsibility seriously and continue to investigate the situation.
Jemi's mother says she does not want the bus driver to lose their job, but remains hopeful this incident will lead to more protocols being put in place.
"I just want something to be changed so that this doesn’t happen to any other child, not only special needs, but any child," said Gittins.
