JONESBORO, Ga. — A mother says no one has been able to explain how her second grader was left in class asleep and then missed his bus.
The boy says he woke up confused and started walking home from Suder Elementary School.
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Channel 2’s Tom Jones learned 7-year-old Oliver Stillwell flagged down an officer near the police department as he walked home.
Before that, he says he and his classmates were told to rest their heads in class right before dismissal. He fell asleep and woke to find he was in class all by himself.
“I don’t know why they didn’t wake me up. My teacher could have waked me up,” Oliver said.
He says the buses were gone, so he set off for home about 20 to 25 minutes away on foot.
“I was on the sidewalk. I wasn’t on the road, because I don’t want to get ran over.
He waved for an officer to stop and help, and the officer interrupted a call he was headed to and took the second grader home. His mother, Lindsey Barrett, had wondered why he wasn’t there.
When the officer told her where he found Oliver, she was livid.
Barrett went to the school. She says his teacher told her the child was sent to another classroom to prepare for dismissal.
“So, they called the other teacher in and she said she never even seen Oliver that day,” the mother said.
Barrett says there’s no way her child should have been left in a class while everyone left. And she says someone should have noticed he wasn’t on the bus.
“It’s taken everything for me to stay calm. And all I get is, ‘I’m sorry,’” she said.
Jones received the following statement from Clayton County Schools late Wednesday.
“District leaders are aware of a matter involving a student enrolled at Suder Elementary school. The safety and well-being of all students remain the district’s top priority. The matter is currently under investigation to address and determine the appropriate action.”
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