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Child left behind

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Coldk88

Junior Member
I live in Michigan and my son (8 years old) had an half day of school that I wasn’t aware of and he was left at the bus stop for 3 hours before I picked him up. What legal action can I take against the school for this negligence?
 


quincy

Senior Member
I live in Michigan and my son (8 years old) had an half day of school that I wasn’t aware of and he was left at the bus stop for 3 hours before I picked him up. What legal action can I take against the school for this negligence?
Why weren't you aware of the half day of school? Was this an emergency closing (e.g., power outage)?

Where is the bus stop in relation to your home?
 

Coldk88

Junior Member
Well the teacher claims she have the kids check a mailbox everyday with papers in there but my son never brought on home...so when I ask her about it she went to check his mailbox and paper where on there my thing is she shouldn’t expect an 8 year old to remember to check an mailbox everyday Especially with important papers in there...also there policy is no child should be left at the stop without an parent being there so when she noticed I wasn’t there I’m wondering what made her leave him there. The stop about almost a mile away
 

stealth2

Under the Radar Member
This makes no sense, on any level. First - the teachers ride the bus with the students? Second - the teacher just arbitrarily created a half day for her students? Third - it was only announced via a note given to the kids? Nowhere on the school calendar was it noted?
 

Ohiogal

Queen Bee
This makes no sense, on any level. First - the teachers ride the bus with the students? Second - the teacher just arbitrarily created a half day for her students? Third - it was only announced via a note given to the kids? Nowhere on the school calendar was it noted?
Parent doesn't want to admit that parent screwed up. Parent feels the need to blame the rest of the world for not knowing the child's school schedule.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Even if everything the OP has said is true, and the OP had absolutely no knowledge of the half-day and had no way to know about it except by her young child bringing the notice (humor me here), this is still a matter of "no harm, no foul" insofar as "legal action" is concerned. The OP's only recourse is to make a stink at the school.
 

quincy

Senior Member
Even if everything the OP has said is true, and the OP had absolutely no knowledge of the half-day and had no way to know about it except by her young child bringing the notice (humor me here), this is still a matter of "no harm, no foul" insofar as "legal action" is concerned. The OP's only recourse is to make a stink at the school.
A 5-year-old was dropped off at the wrong bus stop in Michigan recently by a new bus driver. The child was scared but unharmed, the bus driver and the school apologized, and the mother said she understood that mistakes happen. The school is now reviewing with their drivers the safety precautions that need to be taken so another incident like this doesn't happen again.

With young children, the bus drivers are supposed to release the child from the bus ONLY to the waiting parent (or another person the parent has arranged in advance with the school to release their child to). No parent, no release. The school then calls the parent to ask where they are.

A bus stop a mile from the student's home is odd.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
A 5-year-old was dropped off at the wrong bus stop in Michigan recently by a new bus driver. The child was scared but unharmed, the bus driver and the school apologized, and the mother said she understood that mistakes happen. The school is now reviewing with their drivers the safety precautions that need to be taken so another incident like this doesn't happen again.

With young children, the bus drivers are supposed to release the child from the bus ONLY to the waiting parent (or another person the parent has arranged in advance with the school to release their child to). No parent, no release. The school then calls the parent to ask where they are.

A bus stop a mile from the student's home is odd.
I don't disagree with what you say, but insofar as "legal action" is concerned, it's a "no harm, no foul" situation. There are definitely actions that should be taken to correct the root cause of the problem.
 

Ohiogal

Queen Bee
A 5-year-old was dropped off at the wrong bus stop in Michigan recently by a new bus driver. The child was scared but unharmed, the bus driver and the school apologized, and the mother said she understood that mistakes happen. The school is now reviewing with their drivers the safety precautions that need to be taken so another incident like this doesn't happen again.

With young children, the bus drivers are supposed to release the child from the bus ONLY to the waiting parent (or another person the parent has arranged in advance with the school to release their child to). No parent, no release. The school then calls the parent to ask where they are.

A bus stop a mile from the student's home is odd.
A bus stop a mile away is NOT odd. Depends on the state. In Ohio that is very possible.
 

quincy

Senior Member
I don't disagree with what you say, but insofar as "legal action" is concerned, it's a "no harm, no foul" situation. There are definitely actions that should be taken to correct the root cause of the problem.
Oh. I agree with your earlier post. I quoted your post only because I am in the habit of doing that. :)

The school bus driver appears to have violated a school policy by dropping the child off with no parent present. The school needs to re-educate their bus drivers and there are apologies to be made by the school and the driver to Coldk88 and her child.

Fortunately, there is no legal action for Coldk88 to pursue against the school because, if there WERE a legal action to pursue, that would mean harm of some sort had come to Coldk88's child.

Coldk88 SHOULD have been aware of a scheduled-in-advance half day. These half days are noted on the schools' websites. Sometimes reminder notices will be sent home - but that is school-specific. Emergency closings are easier to miss because the closings are emailed/texted to parents and/or broadcast over the radio and TV. That Coldk88 wasn't aware of the half day of school appears to fall more on her than on the school.
 
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Junction

Junior Member
Unless there was inclement weather, I'd be concerned if my child was 5-10 minutes late from a 1 mile bus ride. Where was the parent for 3 hours? Since the child apparently did not know how to navigate 1 mile on their own, they are probably very young. Are they going home to an empty house if the parent was unavailable for that long?
 

stealth2

Under the Radar Member
Unless there was inclement weather, I'd be concerned if my child was 5-10 minutes late from a 1 mile bus ride. Where was the parent for 3 hours? Since the child apparently did not know how to navigate 1 mile on their own, they are probably very young. Are they going home to an empty house if the parent was unavailable for that long?
Did you read any of OP's posts? The child is 8, and the bus stop is a mile from home. OP says s/he was unawarew of the half day. Criminey.
 
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