EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP - An Atlantic City law firm is investigating how a preschooler was left alone on her school bus for hours, while her parents were not informed that she never made it to school.
Makani Lugo's father put her on the school bus at about 9:10 a.m. Dec. 17, with plans to come to her class' holiday party that afternoon. But when he got there at 2 p.m., Miguel Lugo was told his daughter was not there.
Darielle Lugo previously told BreakingAC that, despite being in contact with her daughter's teacher that day, she was never told that her daughter was not in class. She also never received an automated call from the school, which is normal protocol for all absences.
While the teacher did mark Makani absent, "the automated system, which should alert parents that their child was absent, was apparently not working that day," attorney Michael Pender wrote in a statement. "No back-up system was used to notify the parents."
Frantic phone calls led to the girl still on her bus now parked at transportation on Swift Drive.
Instead of calling police or notifying her parents, "one or more employees of the school district drove the child back to her preschool," Pender wrote.
"Makani continues to suffer from the effects of this incident, including being hospitalized this past weekend for respiratory issues," the attorney claims.
The law firm was retained to investigate and pursue any claims against the school district, which has admitted wrongdoing, Pender noted.
"Regretfully a preschool student was unintentionally left on the school bus yesterday after the morning route,” Superintendent Dr. Kimberly Gruccio said in a statement sent to BreakingAC, who was the first to report the incident. “An employee discovered the student on the bus later in the day, and immediate action was taken to assist the student and the student’s parents were notified and reunited with their child.
“Appropriate authorities were contacted and, while an investigation is ongoing, this type of mistake is unacceptable, and the employees involved are no longer employed in the district,” she continued. “The district cannot comment further except to say that our hearts go out to this family, and as a district we will continue to focus on student safety remaining our number one priority."
An initial investigation prompted by a call from within the district found that the girl had fallen asleep on the bus. Her seatmate tried to wake her, but was unsuccessful.
Darielle Lugo said the investigator told her the other little girl did notify one of the adults on the bus that Makani was asleep, but Pender told BreakingAC that the state investigator said that "when he viewed the video, it did not appear that the young child who tried to wake Makani alerted the bus driver or aide."
"I have not seen the video yet and neither have my clients," he added.
What he does know is "the school bus driver and aide failed to do a basic check of the bus to make sure all the children were off the bus safely. This check is especially important for preschool students, like Makani who just turned 4 years old two week earlier."
He does not yet know the identity of the driver, aide or a third person who got on the bus after the children were dropped off.
Pender said the Lugos' unanswered questions include:
Pender has requested all videos from the school, the bus or buses used to transport Makani, video from the school and parking lot, and all record concerning the automated and manual student attendance and parental notification system.
