HAMPTON, Va. — Hampton mother Lamisha Richards is upset after she says her son was left on a school bus and she wasn’t notified for multiple hours.
“I don’t get it. I don’t understand. I don’t know what’s going on," said Richards.
Richards wants to know why her son was left on the school bus when other kids were dropped off at his school Oct. 2. According to Richards, her son was asleep.
The school district says bus drivers and bus monitors are supposed to walk through their bus after each route. News 3 asked if that was done after the bus Richards' son was on dropped the kids off at the school. The school district had not said as of Thursday.
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“My anxiety is through the roof," Richards said.
Richards said her son was eventually dropped off after the bus picked up and dropped off high school students later in the morning. Only then, she said, was she contacted by the principal of her son’s school.
According to the school district, her son was never alone on the bus.
Richards wants to know why she wasn’t contacted sooner, given, according to her, Richards' son had a list of emergency contacts with him. She said her son is non-verbal and has special needs.
“It could’ve been handled differently, totally differently. Especially with the importance of his needs," Richards said.
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The school district said an investigation began as soon as the district became aware of the incident. Richards said she was told the bus driver and monitor were removed from her son’s bus route and then was later told they had been fired.
The school district declined to say what, if any, disciplinary action was taken, saying that because this is a personnel matter, the district can’t talk about that.
The district also said, however, "The safety and well-being of our students is our highest priority, and we are taking this matter very seriously.”
Richards said as of Thursday, she hadn’t been able to work since the incident and didn’t know if or when she would be able to go back because she had started taking her son to school and picking him up instead of letting him ride the bus.
“The trust is not there. The trust is not there," said Richards.
She said she was also looking into possible legal action against the school district.
