Day care suspended after child found alone on bus

SNELLVILLE, Ga. — A Gwinnett County day care is under investigation after a 6-year-old girl was left alone on a bus for more than an hour.

The girl was on a four-row bus with the Prodigy Point Early Childhood Center in Snellville last month. The center's bus had picked the kindergartener up from elementary school, but on the way to Prodigy, she fell asleep. When she woke up, she realized she was alone.

"She said that she walked to the front of the bus and back to look for other children, and then realized that she was by herself," Whitaker said. "She tried the doors, the front doors. She said she banged her body up against the doors, trying to open it."

Whitaker said her daughter, Kay, had been alone on the bus for about an hour-and-a-half before a parent spotted her and alerted the school.  A staffer came and got her.

"Normally, the bus driver would check the bus and then, before the bus driver is permitted by their regulations to park the bus, a member of management must walk it as well," Whitaker told Channel 2's Eric Philips.

The state has suspended the bus transportation program at the center and sent a statement saying in part, "Once the 12-month transportation restriction period expires, a department-approved monitor will be utilized for a minimum period of one month to ensure Prodigy maintains compliance with rules and regulations."
 
"It could have been much, much worse," Whitaker said.

She has hired a lawyer and is considering legal action. Meanwhile, the Gwinnett County Police Department is investigating, but so far there are no criminal charges.

WSBTV