Kindergarten Girl Left on Benton School Bus Walks to School

BENTON, AR - Tuesday morning a Benton mom got a call that her daughter was left on a school bus after everyone got off including the driver.

"There's a million thoughts that would go through a mom's mind," she said.

We aren't saying who she is for the sake of her child's identity.
 
She says her kindergarten daughter apparently missed the Perrin Elementary stop in the morning. She claims when the driver made the final drop at the Junior High, he got off and left.

"She got off the bus and started walking through morning school traffic trying to get back to school."

Her school is over a mile away but she says her daughter wasn't phased.

"She's a brave little girl," she remarked. "She's not scared of nothing."

She's apparently not afraid of anything, except however for maybe getting in trouble.

"I think that she thought she would get in trouble if she spoke up and was gonna rectify the situation herself and get to school."

Now it's the mom who left to rectify what happened and what should be done.

Alaina Mitchell's daughter rides the same bus but she doesn't want her to anymore.

If it were up to her she said, "There should be some type of disciplinary action for this driver if he's not terminated. I'd rather take her to school myself and pick her up because that's not responsible."

This particular unnamed mom says she's not asking for that.

She says everyone from the principal to the Superintendent has gone above and beyond to fix the problem.

She claimed she's working with the district on changing, amending and/or enforcing the policies.

"Everything is being handled and its gonna get worked out and I'm satisfied with how they're handling everything."

We tried reaching out to the school district through calls and e-mails but as of publication had no response.

According to the Arkansas State Police, for a bus driver to receive their commercial drivers license they have to take a test that specifically mentions the procedure requiring the driver to "walk through the bus and check for hiding/sleeping students and items left by students."

This mom says she's still proud to be a part of the Benton School District.

She only hopes that no one else ever has to hear their daughter was left on the bus.