A Washington, D.C. mother is still seeking answers after she says her 6-year-old daughter’s ride to school took two and half hours, NBC Washington reports.
Over two weeks ago, Asha Gillus lived a parent’s worst nightmare after not being able to locate her daughter, Channing, who should have been on a direct bus route from her home in Shepherd Park to Janney Elementary School in Tenleytown.
Six-year-old Channing Gillus missed breakfast and three important summer learning sessions, “which are critical for her development because she has Down syndrome and she is in a special education program," her mother said https://t.co/Ye7uKzVJ9b
— NBCWashington (@nbcwashington) August 9, 2021
Asha said the bus first showed up at her house 15 minutes late.
“Extended school year learning starts at 9 a.m,” Asha said. “At 10 a.m., I text Channing’s teacher just to say, ‘Hey, what time did Channing get to school?’ And her response was, ‘Channing’s not here.”
No one could give her an explanation about Channing’s whereabouts.
“I start calling people, texting people, emailing the director of transportation of [the Office of the State Superintendent of Education] in all caps ‘WHERE IS CHANNING?’ calling the school,” she said.
Asha stayed in the house with the hopes that Channing may be brought back home on the bus.
“It was a fear, something I still deal with every day because I still have no answers,” she said.
After two and a half hours, Channing was finally dropped off at school. Because of her late arrival, she missed breakfast and three important sessions, “which are critical for her development because she has Down Syndrome and she is in a special education program,” she explained.
New to the route, the driver and attendant said they had gotten lost during the trip despite the bus being equipped with a GPS system.
After contacting the school officials, Asha asked for footage from the bus trip and discovered that the cameras on board were not working.
“I get a call from Channing's former daycare center, that is down the street from her school, saying something happened,” she said.
The driver had taken Channing to her former daycare provider.
The next morning, a private contractor was used to get a driver and attendant for Channing.
The Office of the State Superintendent of Education assured Asha they would investigate the matter.
Asha, who currently serves as a board member of the Down Syndrome Network of Montgomery County, is still in search of the truth.
“I found this out by happenstance," she said. "I cannot imagine the things that we do not know."
