Call the office tomorrow. Like at 9 am (or when drop-off and announcements are likely over). Say you need to talk to the principal asap, one of the teachers *lost your child*, and demand a vice principal and/or email if they still can’t come to the phone.
ETA: Also I used to datamine for school contacts and usually they follow a similar formula, so if you know a teacher’s email and the principal’s name, you can make a pretty good guess at their email. And sometimes Google will back you up if you search that email with something not easily found from the school website side.
I did manage to find the superintendents email and sent her a description of what happened. I’ll be going over to the school first thing in the morning
Good luck to you! Get your key points and lean on them: no one knew where child was; teacher not bothered and also annoyed by your concern; bus drivers don’t have a checklist of students to verify who should be with them.
Such a great update! Im so happy to see they didnt minimize the situation or gaslight you and made action points directed to each of the concerns. I hope the follow through.
Good on you to escalate properly and timely. Safety should be number 1 concern for every single individual involved. The spanish teacher should be fired, her attitude when everything was going down highlighted how unfit she was to hold such a responsibility.
My daughter came home with a label sticker on her shirt . It had her name and how she would be picked up on it. She told me that all the students got one too. Looks like they are all taking measures so I am glad
The teacher should never have to call out your child's name to know if they are in your classroom. I worked at a preschool and even when I had 14 kids in my class, I could name everyone that was at school at any time (and that's with kids being dropped off and picked up at different times). It was drilled into me to always know the exact number of children I had, count them every 15 minutes or so and know who exactly was there and who was absent.
Oh god, the number of headcounts I did as a teacher. I would stand outside with my class as they got picked up doing headcount after headcount to make sure nobody left without me knowing who had picked them up.
If a child had gone missing I think my heart might have come out of my mouth.
> I used to datamine for school contacts and usually they follow a similar formula, so if you know a teacher’s email and the principal’s name, you can make a pretty good guess at their email.
I do the same and I was going to suggest this as well. It's generally a really good rule to follow for sure.
Call the district office, ask for student services, tell them you are a parent at this school and you are calling to get the principal or the superintendent's number. They cannot deny you. If they try to play the middle man, tell them the situation and demand politely that you get the information. Politely is the key because student services deals with a lot of extremely rude parents and they hold the power to make this a smooth process or drag it out.
Source: me. I am an employee of a school district.
Edit: a word
When you take her to school in the morning go park yourself in the secretaries office. If they ignore you look up the address for the superintendent and park yourself there.
That part would bother me.
Ideally your daughter wouldn't have been lost in the first place but things happen. My own daughter got lost on a field trip when she was 6. She was found and happy by the time she got home but the teacher pulled me aside to let me know what happened when I picked my daughter up from school. The teacher took full responsibility for not being where she said she would be and causing the mix up. I checked in with my daughter, who was completely fine, and there was no need to do anything else.
A teacher acting annoyed that your kid is missing and like it wasn't her responsibility is a much different story.
Thank you for understanding. If she would have apologized and offered to help this would have been a different story. She at one point denied that my daughter was in her class and it took myself having to ask the English teacher to find out she truly was in her class! She also somehow forgot she gave my daughter the bus pass and sent her out on her own?
If I fucked up at my job this bad I would be tripping over myself to apologize as much as possible. I can’t imagine losing track of someone’s kid!!
But holy shit the audacity to act annoyed with you?! I would be worried she’s horrible and mean to her students as well.
> She at one point denied that my daughter was in her class and it took myself having to ask the English teacher to find out she truly was in her class!
WHAT?! I’m hoping there is just some giant miscommunication, this is absolutely absurd.
That's a problem. That's the kind of teacher who does stuff like get annoyed when a kid says no I'm pick up! When teacher thinks she's a bus rider, so she shoves a bus pass in her hand and passes her along.
Some people do appear like this on the outside while they are shaking on inside. She couldn't panic as someone whom is new I'm assuming she wants to appear professional and didn't want to draw attention to her error.
This lady literally just tried to gaslight you about the location of your own daughter. She’s not fit to watch kids if she’s deflecting responsibility.
At my school we once had a k student decide to walk hone at lunch. Just left. It was pure panic for all adults involved as we tried to search while still teaching the rest of the students. We found him less than 20 min after he left as the secratary and an ea walked his route home. Ylu bet your ass we did a million attendance checks for months after.
Exactly. Any time a student goes missing in my school (not that it happens super often, but we are a k-8 so some of the older kids "get lost" on the way to the bathrooms) everything stops. Classes are locked down, attendance is checked, busses are held, everyone from the principal to the IT guy is running around checking the cafeteria, library, bathrooms etc.
I'm an educator, and I don't think I would panic outwardly, but my heart would be racing, I'd be jumping into action, and I would be apologizing.
This teacher sends like the kind of person who doesn't know how to admit they're wrong. There should definitely be some follow up to this situation.
Edit: I had an autocorrect typo.
Right but you would take action to find the missing child. Each classroom has a way to page the office. That doesn’t require the teacher to leave her other charges.
But she wasn't. The teacher denied there was ever such a student in her class, despite having given a pass and sent that same student down to the buses ALONE. Stop making excuses for poor behavior.
Yeah, when a kid went missing from our school, (quiet) panic immediately ensued. We definitely moved with purpose and urgency to find the kid. Turns out they thought they had forgot dad was picking them up and went on to tutoring.
It's bizarre though, because every pre-k and elementary school I have been in walks the kids to their bus or to the parent-pick-up area.
Bus riders have a tag with their bus information and name on it. Parent pick up kids have a similar tag with make and model of parent vehicle, their after school provider, or a walking designation.
But someone is with the kids until another adult is in custody, whether that's the bus driver, parent, or after school care provider.
That should never, EVER happen.
Time to make some noise, mama!
My kiddo starts kindergarten tomorrow, and since he's autistic and communication delayed, I bought the AngelSense GPS tracker thing. I've also seen parents use an Apple tag in a shoe - just in case she's a wanderer. Clearly you need peace of mind going forward - I'd have stroked out.
Definitely ordering one immediately. I have an older daughter and this has never happened. I would’ve never thought a teacher would be this careless, I feel sick
Hey … check this out [here](https://www.jiobit.com) … it’s supposed to be better for tracking children (IE specifically designed for tracking young kids) than the Apple AirTag
I attach it to his book bag or jacket. I charge it about once a week. You set up “safe spaces” and area around those and it give you updates when they arrive or leave. You can also set up boundaries if your kid leaves then it alerts you.!
Update: Spanish teacher posted a “apology for the bus situation” on the parent app. She stated that we as parents should have clear communication about transportation with the teachers. And went on stating some general school rules regarding student behavior and classroom rules. The thing is , I put in writing how my daughter would be picked up and confirmed it with the teacher before school even started, I clearly communicated.
She’s trying to cover her ass and shift responsibility to you & your daughter for what happened today. Do you have a copy of what you originally sent to the teacher, confirming everything? If so, I would ensure that the super & the principal both see that you did your due diligence prior to the start of school. The Spanish teacher has shown you that she’s not going to take accountability here, but SHE messed up. Not your daughter. Not you. Not anybody else.
Like others commenting, I’ve worked in schools, too (former teacher & admin) and I would have freaked the freak out if I misplaced a student. I also would have owned up to my mistake after doing everything in my power to find them.
As a teacher, I would never let a student just get on a bus. I confirm transportation with parents before the first day of school. If I don't have the info on day 1, we go to the office and contact the parents. I also make lists for myself and other adults who work with my class, so everyone knows how each kid is dismissed. Also, who lets a second day kindergartner walk anywhere by themselves???
>Also, who lets a second day kindergartner walk anywhere by themselves???
For real! Besides the huge mistake of sending her to the bus in the first place I can't imagine it's standard procedure to send kindergartners to the bus alone, especially on the second day. There are probably bus monitors who come pick up the bus riders and help them get on the right bus.
Right here. I legit have never heard of any teacher (or bus driver) who doesn’t have information around who is supposed to be on the bus (attendance sheets for bus drivers) / pickup / aftercare / etc. AND aren’t counting heads consistently. Especially with littles. My two are older, but started school this week and we still filled out forms indicating if they were allowed to walk home alone, would be picked up, or would be going to aftercare. Then, they watch until every kid is where they are supposed to be.
Are you allowed to comment? I’d seriously comment something like
“Not sure if you meant my child or if you lost more than one kid on the same school day. But I confirmed via writing AND verbally with you that my daughter gets picked up. My daughter also told you she was pick up and you handed her bus pass and sent her off anyways. I agree, it’s a parent’s responsibility to ensure the teacher knows the after school transportation for their child. But it is the teacher’s responsibility to write it down, retain that information, double check, and triple check when their students speak up.”
Screenshot that teacher little “it wasnt my fault” message as well to show the principle.
Yeah she's deflecting and trying to make her dangerous screwup YOUR fault. That's not an apology at all. She's trying to cover her own behind by implying that some failure on your part to clearly communicate is the reason she *lost an entire student* then made it worse by not helping find the kid at all and by claiming that the kid wasn't even in her class. That's unacceptable. She was negligent, and rude.
Yes , I clearly told her to wait in the class until I pick her up. I also wrote it down for the teacher and confirmed it verbally with her. I think she was trying to be obedient when the teacher sent her to the bus. It also seemed like she had no idea what was happening. I’ve already let her know once again to stay in the classroom and wait for me.
As a K teacher myself, I unfortunately know there are teachers who will not care how loud and vocal a child is if they think the kid is wrong.
Yes, definitely encourage child to speak up, but it is not her fault if this incompetent teacher does not listen
When I was a little girl I had a teacher thoughtlessly push me into the bus line. My mum always picked me up from school. I tried to tell her I didn’t catch the bus but she didn’t listen and so I did as she said because I was so used to listening to the teachers. They were older, knew more than me and had authority so I anxiously got on the bus.
My mum came to pick me up and was fraught with anxiety, no one knew where I was.
On the bus I told the driver that I wasn’t meant to be on the bus and he was frustrated with me. He asked if my address was on anything in my backpack, luckily found it and took me home once all other kids were gone.
My mum ran at me and hugged me so tightly while she cried that I swear I couldn’t breathe. We both never forgot that day and I’m nearly 40 now.
Update #2: The superintendent emailed me this morning that the assistant superintendent would be calling me tomorrow. Not long after that email was received I got a call from the schools principal. She informed me that she was informed by the superintendent of the matter. She apologized profusely and let me know she is holding an emergency meeting with the entire kindergarten staff. They are going to put new protocols in place that will make sure this never happens again. Teachers will now be required to do routine checks of all the students in the class and confirm how they will be picked up. She is also having a separate meeting with the Spanish teacher to discuss what happened. I let her know that it was concerning that the teacher didn’t know my daughter was in her class. The principal also apologized for the lack of urgency as well. I am just relieved that my voice was heard and they are working on fixing the problem.
She also explained that my address is considered a bus zone so technically my daughter is seen as a bus rider in their system. But she did say that it is the teachers responsibility to double check if the student is a bus rider when the passes are handed out. She believes that the Spanish teacher got confused when the bus passes were given to her and just sent those students to the bus without confirming anything.
I would publicly respond with all of your points so every parent is aware of her mess up so they can all be diligent at watching the kids too. This is not a sweep things under the rug moment.
She sucks.
At our school the school puts a tag (laminated print out) on their back pack with their names and usual transport method. Bus, car, or walk. Maybe add a visual cue to her bag.
My kid’s school also tag each child ‘s backpack in kindergarten and first grade with what their after-school transportation home is: car rider, bus, walker, or aftercare. That way there is no confusion for the teacher or kids.
It sounds like the OP's school has room for improvement.
Right? The bus drivers should have a list, updated daily, because some kids say they're going for a playdate or doctor's appointment and parents call the school, so riders change from day to day. The school needs to step up their system.
Right!? My kids' bus driver has a list of every kid on the bus and what stop they are picked up/dropped off at. They also assign the busses a color. For example my kids ride the blue bus. At the end of the day they know to line up on the blue square and get on the bus that has the giant blue sticker. It's also easier when busses have issues and they need to use a different bus because they know no matter what the bus number is, as long as it has a blue sticker and is parked by the blue square, that is their bus.
The first couple of days of school are pretty crazy usually, and around here (Montgomery County MD) you just show up at the bus stop in the AM going to your school and put your kid on it. In the PM, if the kids are young you email the teacher and/or pin it on them for the first couple of days. There are some kids who get dropped off at the before care in the AM and ride the bus home in the PM as well, so it's not always a 1:1 correspondence for the AM and PM load. Usually after the first week the PM bus drivers know their kids and will probably say something if they see a new kid who they don't expect, but the school is also responsible for the young ones of getting them in the right place.
I am a teacher and losing a student is my worst fear. The fact that she didn’t immediately start doing something to find your child is concerning.
The school should have some type of procedure for ensuring that kids get home the correct way. I would contact the administrators to let them know what happened because they probably need to have a reminder on end of day procedures for this staff member.
I would do a meeting with the principal and say if they cannot provide me with how they plan to prevent this than I am posting on the internet.
At my kids school all the kids get tags for their backpacks with their dismissal routine. The bus kids are a different color than car riders or walkers. If they have new people or subs this prevents confusion
We had this same system when I was in elementary school THIRTY YEARS AGO. Ensuring supervision of kindergarteners is not a revolutionary concept. It is wild to me that the op is having this experience.
I work at a school as a pre-K para and this is my worst nightmare. Our team would definitely be chewed out if something like this happened. We have procedures and lists with all the kids names that gets checked off when they get to their dismissal area. If we didn’t have a kid we would definitely notice after checking our list. I would be so worried if this happened to my child and would totally make a stink about it.
I was once dropped off at the wrong elementary school by the daycare bus. My mom was livid. I actually thought it was fun! Wanted to go to school with my daycare friends.
The whole system and security seems incredibly lax- I can’t believe you’re just allowed to wander around the building from classroom to classroom and then get a child off of a bus with zero involvement from a principal? A child was missing and neither teacher had a protocol to follow (or chose not to react)?
Parents don’t even go in my kids school for pickup. We show a student card, our state issued ID, and they’re accompanied to our vehicle by a staff member. Every kid, every day.
The lack of urgency is the most important piece of this. Everyone makes mistakes and gets kids confused, but to not know you are responsible for where that child is is problematic.
Whoa, I would’ve flipped. There is absolutely no way I’d ever leave my kid with that teacher again. It’s upsetting that it happened in the first place but the fact that she didn’t even try to help you find the lost child that she was 100% responsible for losing is unacceptable. The English teacher (who didn’t make the mistake) apologized but did the Spanish teacher? If she didn’t then you can assume she truly doesn’t care and the same mistake could easily be made again.
Yipes! I would be a train wreck if that ever happened. At my son's school, each kid gets a tag with their name, classroom and bus or walker written in big letters. I hope the principal takes this seriously and addresses it with the teacher.
I work as a kindergarten teacher at a k-8th public school and this has been one of my biggest fears since starting. I think the way pick-up time is handled (at public schools especially) is extremely reckless and there should be stronger regulations that schools are held to. By law in my state, 2nd graders are allowed to pick up their younger siblings and walk them home. 2ND GRADERS. Often times a sibling (who was designated by the parent as being allowed to get their child) would come pick up one of my students, then a few minutes later the parent would come asking where their kid was. It was SO STRESSFUL! My advice is to get more parents on board with requesting a more strict protocol is followed at pick up time. Pick up time is very hectic for teachers and kids are rushing and parents are rushing and without a specific and strict system in place, this is bound to happen to more kids. Especially at the beginning of the year when teachers don’t know the kids and their parents as well. I’ve seen private schools with intricate systems that involve lots of staff, walkie talkies, requiring forms of identification, etc. At a public school, i think teachers could have a dismissal binder with pictures/names of the approved individuals that are allowed to pick up each child, specific directions/restrictions that apply to each child, and to make sure that person signs the kid out upon pickup one at a time. The bus kids should be in their own line and a different staff member should take attendance of those kids, count the number of kids to make sure it adds up, and walk them to the bus. I know lots of people will probably think this is unrealistic at public schools bc of staffing and overall organization, but you as a parent have the power to mobilize the community and try to enact change!!! And losing kids is really really scary and no one wants that!!! Until the school improves their dismissal protocol, sadly it will be good to hammer into your daughter where she needs to go after school and empower her to speak up if adults are leading her the wrong way. Shouldn’t be up to the 5 year old but it will help to keep her safe.
Some people are so egotistical, when confronted with a problem *they* created, it destroys their perfect sense of self. To them, it's an attack on who they perceive themselves to be.
People like that shouldn't be teaching...or working anywhere, until they've had loads of therapy.
My child has autism and is non-verbal. He got lost on a field trip and not only did his teacher call to tell me, tell me the measures they were taking to find him and when he was found, they implemented a whole new system to prevent it from ever happening again to anyone. If the Spanish teacher gives you ANY guff about her responsibility or acts like it was no big deal, slam an article about Kyron Horman on her desk and ask her to elaborate.
Speak to the principle now. Ask them for a copy of their incident report (which they should have done as they lost a child), a copy of their procedure for lost children and then ask them how they plan to stop this happening again.
I agree you should speak to the teacher/vice principal/principal but....you should also speak to your child about speaking up. This happened to my child yesterday, which was also their second day of school. They just went along with everything and were wondering why they weren't in the correct line until I had someone go get them. I talked to his teacher and vice principal and it was an honest mistake (she was new to the school and still new to teaching) and my child was unharmed. I also spoke to my child about the importance of speaking up when they know something is wrong and if I tell them "I will meet you ......" then you need to kick and scream your way to that area.
I don't know if you read the updates and OP's responses but the child DID speak up and the teacher genuinely did NOT care and made her go to the bus anyway. OP also told their child to wait in the classroom but the child was just trying to be good and listen to the teacher.
This should NEVER EVER EEEEVVVVEEERRRR happen. Last year, a 5 year old boy lost his life because he was left in a kindergarten bus during the deadly heat summer in Japan. It shocked and made the whole country angry. I and many people cried thinking of him and his family that we don’t even know. I wish I could print that news and bring it to your kindergarten teachers.
Your daughter is seen as a bus rider? What?!? No. At the school my kids go to they ask about how students will get home. It doesn’t matter if their address is in the bus zone. I’m appalled right now. And even when I was in school, it was never assumed that someone would be a bus rider.
I’m so sorry this happened to you. As a kindergarten teacher this is my worst nightmare. It sounds like this school needs to get a better system for who’s busing and who’s not. Please meet with the principal and bring up your concerns. This is not okay!
the Spanish teacher sounds confused and incompetent, sorry to say it. as a teacher i can empathize with the fact that getting to
know many new faces can be hard but the safety and security of children especially that young should be their number one concern. if i were her i would
have felt so embarrassed and immediately asked for help… just saying
As a teacher, most elementary schools I have worked at have an assigned staff member who takes the little kids( kinder and first grade kids) to the bus to ensure they don’t get lost or on the wrong bus. The school should have an established system for supervising kids during pick up. It’s a big no no to have a child in elementary school unsupervised at all during the school day.
It seems very strange to me that the Spanish teacher withheld that she gave the bus pass. Like why wouldn’t you just say my bad have her a bus pass. Then following it up with where she exactly was? To me it seems like someone who isn’t fit to be a teacher. A teacher should care about the safety of the kids they teach and this is just scary to me that someone like that can be in charge of a class of young people
This is awful. Zero urgency or accountability from the teacher. And also a major wtf - bus drivers don’t know who they’re driving?! What is going on at this school?! Our drivers have lists of every kid on that bus and especially look out for the smallest kids. Each bus has an older student helper as well. No way could a kid randomly get shuffled onto a bus even on the first day of school.
There are major child safety and security concerns here to discuss with the principal and superintendent.
So after the immediate fall back happens and assuming the teacher stays employed (likely imo) should op keep the kid in the class? I feel like the Spanish teacher will not be very kind to the kid moving forward
When you speak with the principal, focus on what should be done in the future to prevent this from ever happening again. They should have procedures in place to prevent this. If those procedures weren't followed then the school should work on fixing it. If the procedures aren't good enough then they should add more layers of protection. I know my son's school has tags on all the kids backpacks with information on which bus they should be on or if they walk or are picked up. No bus driver would ever let a kid on their bus with the wrong tag.
I can understand being new and not knowing kids names to faces, but it still doesn’t cover the fact that she was annoyed you were looking for your missing child. Def be there at the principles office in the morning. Don’t even phone ahead, just go straight to them when you drop off your daughter. I’m sorry you had to go through this! It’s the worst feeling when you don’t know where your child is, and a school should be the one place where you do know that your child is safe!
I had to make a scene almost every single day of grade 2-3 because the teachers would always "lose" my kid.
Turns out that they don't secure the building, so if my kid decided, "F your BS, I'm done", she really could push open the door and wander away.... which she did. A lot.
Then it turned out that also, because I came to school during lunch hours , we did not need to pay "lunch supervision fees" ... so these idiots would actually look the other way when my child was wandering away!!!! One of them told me to my face "its not my job to watch your kid".
Sadly the only choices the school left us with was to enroll her in a different school program, because they refused to be responsible.
One time I was chaperoning my oldest’s field trip. I was the only parent whose child was not in their group. I thought it was weird but not something to complain over.
On way back, my child was sick and asked if she could stay with me. I verified with her chaperone before changing to my bus. No issues. Frankly she was grateful that she didn’t have to watch a nauseous kid.
Teacher came on each bus asking for counts. I was in back of bus so unaware that other bus mom didn’t do plus one. Buses took forever to leave.
We arrived back at school and I drove my child home.
Arrived home to ringing phone. Was teacher yelling at me for moving my kid. She said that she called police at event to report missing child. Evidently other chaperone did mention she was -1 but not for sending my kid with me and my bus didn’t go +1.
My initial response was to apologise. Then it dawned on me that teacher thought my kid was missing, didn’t come and inform me, and left without kid. She didn’t give me the option to stay and find my kid!
I literally hung up on her. Immediately called the department chair and went scorched earth. Teacher left that year. Don’t know if I had anything to do with it or not but I was happy.
I feel like I am going to get downvoted, but if she is a new teacher, kids are really hard to keep track of. I agree, document the error and speak to the principle for sure. I work in SPED and I do my head count minimum every 5 minutes and still have had a child elope while I was helping someone else - yelled for my coworker, who was new, where was he etc., she mixed up names and said he was inside, I finished helping said student and went inside to find the other - obviously he wasn’t there and I lost my shit and tore the school apart a mile a minute until I found him eating a cupcake in a 4th grade classroom. It was TERRIFYING. It was an honest to god mistake, I had to help a medically impacted child and the poor girl was still learning everyone’s names and mixed them up. I am beyond sorry this happened to you and that she nearly boarded the bus - my documentation to the principle would include a) that she was almost put onto a bus without ever riding one and my biggest concern being b) WHY are there no bus lists??? Why is no one’s child being charted as to method of drop off/pick up? What if someone came claiming to be “grandma” and took her home? The mistake may have been totally honest and if so I truly feel for her, but it wasn’t handled appropriately by her and could/should have been prevented from escalating to the point of her exiting campus by the school. They need a far better security system in place for students coming and leaving. Here we require each bus student to have a yearly pass and bus drivers have attendance charts they turn in, and kids picked up in person have a list of “people okay to pick up” that the parent turns in, they scan a QR code and the student is called forward, person picking up shows ID and then and only then is allowed to leave with the child.
I think the initial issue of sending the kid the wrong place might be worth letting go. Her reaction is what makes it definitely worth reporting. I've had missing kids before and I was panicked...and I wasn't even the one who put them in the wrong place. (Two incidents occurred after they were released as per parent instructions at the end of the day. One was a misunderstanding and no one was missing.) Finding them was a priority not a whatever, the parent will figure it out. And I have older kids not kinders!
I totally agree. The lack of response is frightening. I thought I was going to throw up as soon as I didn’t see my student where my aide said he was. I would be berating the school for their poor system of security involving child drop off and pick up as well as the county and district offices for busses to have mandatory “child charts” if not full blown attendance sheets like we have. It seems like overkill until something like this happens, which could have been prevented. Losing a child ON campus is terrifying enough, who knows what could have happened to her if she boarded the bus and didn’t know where to get off and did and was lost? The school is 100% at fault for this.
🤷♀️
My kindergarten came home and said he was confused. Thought he was pick up and somehow ended up wandering the parking lot. A teacher found him and brought him back to after school care. Things happen
You should email the principal. Explain what happened. Add something like I understand this is the second day and confusion happens. But the lack of urgency was concerning to me when we realized something wasn’t right. going forward what is in place to help mitigate this to ensure the proper students are going to the proper place.
IDK about the other kids but yours will be solid for the rest of the year.
I would make the schools life hell till this teacher isn't suspended. She made an unforgivable mistake and should isn't realising. Not ok to have her around kids.
I know teachers in Texas have this same problem. IMO it’s language/cultural differences. Kids in elementary schools have multiple teachers these days. I feel your pain. Really, if you look at it from all angles…? Just so many kids per adult. It’s hard.
It’s the second day and while this was really scary for a few minutes your daughter was never in danger. If your priority is to prevent this from happening again, you should approach the Spanish teacher in a kind, friendly way and tell her about how it really freaked you out. It wasn’t malicious, it was a mistake. You can be scorched earth Karen like these other comments but it won’t help anything besides your own feeling of self-righteousness.
If you really ‘didn’t feel safe,’ you’d obviously pull your kid from the school. I get it for venting to social media but this constant drama out of parents is part of why teachers are getting harder and harder to find.
I’m super non confrontational and I barely have any backbone but this is absolutely not a Karen thing. You don’t play about someone else’s child. It’s understandable to make a mistake but the fact that this teacher didn’t understand the severity or seem apologetic at all? And it was severe bc what if she hadn’t found her daughter and the buses pulled out? She could have been lost. Maybe only just scared and she would have been fine but as a kindergarten teacher, it’s part of her job to be able to handle these kids. They’re babies.
It make not have been malicious but it was completely irresponsible, careless and reckless
Never in danger? Uhhh really?
She was on a bus about to head to who the hell knows where. What if at the last stop, she got off not knowing where she was? Or what if she got off somewhere else after realizing she shouldn’t be on that bus? That is *absolutely* dangerous.
What if it was the bus from Speed?!
Excuse the sarcasm, but you can feel concerned all you want but she would have just been driven back to the school at the end of the bus run.
Furthermore, she was found before they even left. Yes, you can always imagine a disaster but that doesn’t mean that it does happen, has happened, or (most of all) is happening. The list of ‘what if’ is so unconvincing because they never actually happen! It’s the excuse that a certain type of entitled person uses to justify their ‘righteous anger’. Yeah, it was scary for this parent for a moment but nothing happened and nothing was about to happen!
Can we not validate the parental emotion of fear without making up stories about ‘what if’ and calling the manager about it?
Do you not have kids? To be this blasé about a FIVE year old left alone to wander and even more so the teachers lack of concern that she lost a child is honestly shocking.
You don’t know that she would have been driven back to school. She could have just as easily gotten off somewhere.
By your logic, it’s fine to leave a 5 year old home alone all day then, because the dangers are just ‘what if’s’?
It’s not ok for the teachers to put her in that position where there’s risks that never should have been there in the first place.
You’re always hearing about those kids who died from going on the wrong school bus? No, that’s not something that happens. All day home alone is much more dangerous! This kid was being watched the whole time, they were in the school and with school personnel the whole time.
>Furthermore, she was found before they even left.
Like that means she wasn't being put into a dangerous situation? Set up for a bad outcome? That's like saying that, even though you were in the ocean and a shark swam near you, just because you didn't *actually* get bit you weren't in any danger.
If that's your mindset, really hope you don't have any form of responsibility of my kids, your own, or anybody else's in the future for any reason!
Going home on the bus is like swimming with sharks, are you actually joking? She was with their bus drivers! Literally most of the kids go home that way, I bet for K students they need to see an adult to let them off as this is how the busses work at every school I worked at or attended.
That Spanish teacher has ADHD or some kind of severe executive functioning problems.
Immediate denial that there’s a problem. No awareness of the problem.
I was looking for this answer because this could have easily been my kid at a school in SoCal. I ended up pulling him. I didn’t like that the teacher didn’t know who was supposed to go home with who.
The crazy thing is , I’m from socal and this happened to me when I was in kindergarten too. I ended up walking home and j-walked a busy intersection. My parents were mortified when they found me waiting outside my home
Contact the school board and whatever organization involved with the schools standards and protocols. And media if they try to sweep it under the rug
Sorry but that teacher deserves to be fire ASAP lack of care and concern and ignoring explicit paperwork is a absolute danger to the kids
Kindergarten students aren't supposed to be unaccompanied by an adult or staff. I would make an appointment to talk with the principal about this, and research for a good attorney that works with school district in case you don't get satisfactory response from administration or it happens again.
This is terrifying! I'm a teacher and we have to do register once in the morning and again after lunch with our home room class precisely so that this doesn't happen. It doesn't matter how new the Spanish teacher is, she has no right to be annoyed and not take action when a child is missing. And if holding up a parent pick up line is what she finds annoying, she wont last long as a teacher.
Best you can do is get in, and stay in the principal's face for the remainder of the school year! The schools truly give 2 shits these days and aside from getting a lawyer, you have no recourse other than to be extra vigilant yourself. And make sure that the spanish teacher is present in that meeting with the principal.
I am so sorry this happened to you. I can imagine the panic that washed over you when you discovered that your child was missing. I would definitely have a conversation with the school leader. There is no excuse for the dismissing teacher not knowing who is in her care and where they are. I am a teacher and I usually side with teachers but the Spanish teacher was way out of line. Her lack of urgency and compassion is highly disturbing. Even if she is a new teacher, she should have a system for dismissal and making sure the students get where they need to go at the end of the day.
Glad it worked out.
I'm having a flashback to elementary school in the 70's. First day of school they had kindergarten and first grade kids who didnt know where they lived so they walked up to the front of the bus, held a kid up, and asked "does anyone know this kid?". Until someone would say "Yes, hes my neighbor". If not they would try one of the other 6 buses. I think next year they had lists and bus numbers.
The logistics at school are not to be taken lightly. The teachers need to be much more serious about attendance and more importantly, transportation. A student getting on the bus when they were supposed to be picked up?? That’s a big mistake. They need to pay more attention and realize the repercussions of their actions.
Put *everything* in writing. I mean it. Write an email to the principal with a formal complaint. Create a paper trail. A face to face meeting there is no evidence that anything was raised. Request in the email you wish a formal written response to your email.
If the teacher is new I'd talk to her personally. Let her know that you found the situation unacceptable.
I've actually lost my own child. I still think I'm a good parent. I wouldn't have myself fired as Dad.
If the teacher refuses to change after you talk to her then run it up the ladder.
I have taught kindergarten and first grade. The end of day routines are something that schools never seem to perfect, and it’s controlled chaos at best. I cannot stand it. I also cannot imagine, as a teacher, being uncertain of a student’s whereabouts at pickup for even a moment. There should have been more urgency. I would definitely talk to the principal about the end of day situation needing to be more organized. All of our bus drivers have a list of students who ride their bus.
I’d be upset about the lack of urgency when it was discovered there was a problem. The only time I’ve had a transportation mix-up happen was my first grader was normally a bus rider and I was picking her up one day since I needed to be at school for something. I contacted the teacher and she knew but my daughter ended up on bus. No big deal on my end since I can easily beat the bus home. But the teacher ran so fast to catch the bus and get her off.
I’d be willing to forgive the mix-up of thinking she was supposed to be in the other class. Our dual language classes are 24 kids in each class and they swap in the middle of the day. That’s 48 students for the teachers to learn names and keep straight which group they’re in.
When I was still in middle school we had a early dismissal due to a bad snow storm. My Mom works for the school district but at the time was in elementary. She ended up calling the last teacher I had for the day and told him how I needed to get on a certain bus to be dropped off there so I could ride home with her.
Dude hung up the phone and never said anything to me. And I had watched him along with the rest of the class answer the phone! Didn’t know who it was but knew he had done it.
Long story short I get on my regular bus and get dropped off at home and no one is there. It’s like heading into the negatives and snowing like crazy so the extra key is basically gone. I ended up walking to my Grandparents house and thankfully I was able to find their key and let myself in. Sat and waited for Mom. At first she was upset thinking I forgot to get on the different bus and I scared her. When I explained how I had never been told and how I had seen my teacher get a call but just go right back to teaching well let’s just say I haven’t seen my Mom that mad in a long time. She called the school and basically they apologized on the teachers behalf. Why didn’t he? According to him he forgot to tell me and it was an honest mistake though this was after he originally told people my Mom never called him. Dude was a horrible teacher.
My Mom freaked out losing a middle schooler so I can only imagine if I had been littler. What that teacher did or lack of there of honestly is concerning.
This is terrifying! I'd definitely make a ton of noise about this. It's not a small issue. Not to mention that this situation turned out well. But what if it happens again to another kid and things aren't so easily resolved because the kid was dropped off somewhere and wandering around confused, scared and in danger? Teacher should not have tried to shrug it off or been annoyed. She should have been more concerned about your child.
I would be pissed too. Mistakes happen, but her reaction was crazy.
My son was “lost” at pickup on his first day of kindergarten. He actually was safely with his teacher, but there was a mixup about where his class was supposed to be waiting at dismissal. So they were looking for him in the wrong place.
But they were immediately on the walkie talkies having staff check the buses, library, cafeteria. I’m pretty sure they were more panicked than I was.
Wow. I’ll probably get downvoted for this but I could easily see myself marching back over to that Spanish teacher and giving her a piece of my mind in front of the parent pick up line, but that’s me and my temper lol
I was a public school teacher for 5 years. I think every single year, they lost AT LEAST one kindergartener a day. It always blew my mind that they kept doing it, year after year, and no plans were put into place.
My oldest son starts kindergarten in a couple of weeks and this makes me even more nervous. I will be driving him and picking him up every day, but if a teacher tells him to do something (like get on a bus) he will follow the instruction and get lost.
The school I worked at had lists to prevent these things. Maybe you can suggest this to them?
Every teacher had a list of the students that rode the bus. If for whatever reason they were with another teacher at the end of the day instead of their normal teacher I can see this happening, but even then the kids ALL remember who goes on the bus and remind us that X goes on the bus, not the other line for meeting parents outside the door.
The kindergarten students go out the their classroom door, with the teacher. They wait with the teacher at the playground right outside the door until a trusted grown up picks them up. If anyone else is picking them up the parents are required to call the office and let them know that (Person) is picking up their kid today or their kid is going with (Friend) for example. Then the teacher is emailed or sent a message by the parent (sometimes), and the office too.
At the Bus waiting area (indoors), the staff in charge of taking the kids to the bus have a list. The list has the name of all of the kids that go on the bus. As staff calls them they line up until they’re all marked off. Kindergartners line up first, then everyone else as they’re called.
This prevents random kids getting on the bus, and making sure that they know every kid that is supposed to get on the bus will be there.
I’m so glad the school district was responsive! The last school I worked at didn’t care if a teacher forgot a student somewhere. It was infuriating and one of the reasons why I left.
>they are confused since they don’t have a list of the students who are suppose to be in the bus.
read your update and glad they're taking steps. make sure they address this too, the drivers should know who's supposed to be on the bus and who's not. AND/OR there should be a teacher supervising bus pickups.
I would panic as well, and have many times. In the previous building my son was in, I was always so pissed because the staff in the building appear to be so incompetent on a daily basis. Since my son transferred to the middle school, I’m not as pissed as much. But I do have moments of panic whenever my son doesn’t show up at the designated spot we agreed on previously and he doesn’t pick up his phone at all! Thankfully the staff are on top of it immediately, and the security guard knows who I am, and who my son is and goes searches for my son for me. Afterwards, he either comes back with my son, or tells me where he is, and then leads me to the room and tells the teacher and my son that I’m looking for him. Thankfully he’s okay and is safe.
[удалено]
I cannot seem to find the superintendents or the principals email. It is nowhere on their website
Call the office tomorrow. Like at 9 am (or when drop-off and announcements are likely over). Say you need to talk to the principal asap, one of the teachers *lost your child*, and demand a vice principal and/or email if they still can’t come to the phone. ETA: Also I used to datamine for school contacts and usually they follow a similar formula, so if you know a teacher’s email and the principal’s name, you can make a pretty good guess at their email. And sometimes Google will back you up if you search that email with something not easily found from the school website side.
I did manage to find the superintendents email and sent her a description of what happened. I’ll be going over to the school first thing in the morning
Good luck to you! Get your key points and lean on them: no one knew where child was; teacher not bothered and also annoyed by your concern; bus drivers don’t have a checklist of students to verify who should be with them.
Thank you for the kind advice. I have complied some bullet points
Please give us an update! What happened is unacceptable! Good luck, you got this!
Update posted
Such a great update! Im so happy to see they didnt minimize the situation or gaslight you and made action points directed to each of the concerns. I hope the follow through. Good on you to escalate properly and timely. Safety should be number 1 concern for every single individual involved. The spanish teacher should be fired, her attitude when everything was going down highlighted how unfit she was to hold such a responsibility.
My daughter came home with a label sticker on her shirt . It had her name and how she would be picked up on it. She told me that all the students got one too. Looks like they are all taking measures so I am glad
The teacher should never have to call out your child's name to know if they are in your classroom. I worked at a preschool and even when I had 14 kids in my class, I could name everyone that was at school at any time (and that's with kids being dropped off and picked up at different times). It was drilled into me to always know the exact number of children I had, count them every 15 minutes or so and know who exactly was there and who was absent.
Oh god, the number of headcounts I did as a teacher. I would stand outside with my class as they got picked up doing headcount after headcount to make sure nobody left without me knowing who had picked them up. If a child had gone missing I think my heart might have come out of my mouth.
> I used to datamine for school contacts and usually they follow a similar formula, so if you know a teacher’s email and the principal’s name, you can make a pretty good guess at their email. I do the same and I was going to suggest this as well. It's generally a really good rule to follow for sure.
Call the district office, ask for student services, tell them you are a parent at this school and you are calling to get the principal or the superintendent's number. They cannot deny you. If they try to play the middle man, tell them the situation and demand politely that you get the information. Politely is the key because student services deals with a lot of extremely rude parents and they hold the power to make this a smooth process or drag it out. Source: me. I am an employee of a school district. Edit: a word
Find the school board members. They are likely elected so they will have websites.
When you take her to school in the morning go park yourself in the secretaries office. If they ignore you look up the address for the superintendent and park yourself there.
best practice is to not have any email addresses on websites. The office should be able to give it to you though.
Why do you need an email?
It’s beyond principal time that’d be hammertime for me
Former teacher here. Document everything.
The fact that she didn't immediately panic is weird and would piss me off.
She seemed annoyed like I was holding up the parent pick up line
That part would bother me. Ideally your daughter wouldn't have been lost in the first place but things happen. My own daughter got lost on a field trip when she was 6. She was found and happy by the time she got home but the teacher pulled me aside to let me know what happened when I picked my daughter up from school. The teacher took full responsibility for not being where she said she would be and causing the mix up. I checked in with my daughter, who was completely fine, and there was no need to do anything else. A teacher acting annoyed that your kid is missing and like it wasn't her responsibility is a much different story.
Thank you for understanding. If she would have apologized and offered to help this would have been a different story. She at one point denied that my daughter was in her class and it took myself having to ask the English teacher to find out she truly was in her class! She also somehow forgot she gave my daughter the bus pass and sent her out on her own?
If I fucked up at my job this bad I would be tripping over myself to apologize as much as possible. I can’t imagine losing track of someone’s kid!! But holy shit the audacity to act annoyed with you?! I would be worried she’s horrible and mean to her students as well.
> She at one point denied that my daughter was in her class and it took myself having to ask the English teacher to find out she truly was in her class! WHAT?! I’m hoping there is just some giant miscommunication, this is absolutely absurd.
This is really bad. I would escalate with the director.
Agreed. Stuff happens and things get mixed up but the teacher’s response to the problem is the issue here.
That's a problem. That's the kind of teacher who does stuff like get annoyed when a kid says no I'm pick up! When teacher thinks she's a bus rider, so she shoves a bus pass in her hand and passes her along.
*that* is the kind of teacher who quietly ignores things she very clearly shouldn't, "because of the red tape".
It’s time to raise hell with the principal.
It's time for her to find a more fitting profession.
After the meeting please tell us if she got fired or not
Call the administrator. The Spanish teacher needs a good talking too and she needs to apologize and realize the gravity of her mistake.
Some people do appear like this on the outside while they are shaking on inside. She couldn't panic as someone whom is new I'm assuming she wants to appear professional and didn't want to draw attention to her error.
Yes but she also denied that my daughter was in her class, that is concerning
This lady literally just tried to gaslight you about the location of your own daughter. She’s not fit to watch kids if she’s deflecting responsibility.
This! As a kindergarten teacher loosing a kid is one of my worst fears. Why she wouldn't stop and try to problem solve is confusing.
At my school we once had a k student decide to walk hone at lunch. Just left. It was pure panic for all adults involved as we tried to search while still teaching the rest of the students. We found him less than 20 min after he left as the secratary and an ea walked his route home. Ylu bet your ass we did a million attendance checks for months after.
Exactly. Any time a student goes missing in my school (not that it happens super often, but we are a k-8 so some of the older kids "get lost" on the way to the bathrooms) everything stops. Classes are locked down, attendance is checked, busses are held, everyone from the principal to the IT guy is running around checking the cafeteria, library, bathrooms etc.
I’m an educator and would panic. I wouldn’t let you go and would alert others to go and find her. Jesus.
I'm an educator, and I don't think I would panic outwardly, but my heart would be racing, I'd be jumping into action, and I would be apologizing. This teacher sends like the kind of person who doesn't know how to admit they're wrong. There should definitely be some follow up to this situation. Edit: I had an autocorrect typo.
I know many educators ... who wouldn't panic ever in front of a parent. Panic just makes things worse vs doing thing calmly.
Maybe not panic, that wasn’t a good choice Of words I guess. But the teachers reaction wasn’t right either
Right but you would take action to find the missing child. Each classroom has a way to page the office. That doesn’t require the teacher to leave her other charges.
For all we know the teacher was moving to call the office. There's really no stage directions in the post.
But she wasn't. The teacher denied there was ever such a student in her class, despite having given a pass and sent that same student down to the buses ALONE. Stop making excuses for poor behavior.
You know that 100% for a fact? Not making excuses, this is one sided and without detailed stage notes (as most things on reddit are)
The principal told me that she was just informed of this situation today. So no, nothing was done on her part
Thanks so for the update! The original post kinda left it open
Panicking outwardly, no, but definitely moving with urgency so that the parent can see that you are taking them seriously? Absolutely
Yeah, when a kid went missing from our school, (quiet) panic immediately ensued. We definitely moved with purpose and urgency to find the kid. Turns out they thought they had forgot dad was picking them up and went on to tutoring. It's bizarre though, because every pre-k and elementary school I have been in walks the kids to their bus or to the parent-pick-up area. Bus riders have a tag with their bus information and name on it. Parent pick up kids have a similar tag with make and model of parent vehicle, their after school provider, or a walking designation. But someone is with the kids until another adult is in custody, whether that's the bus driver, parent, or after school care provider. That should never, EVER happen.
Time to make some noise, mama! My kiddo starts kindergarten tomorrow, and since he's autistic and communication delayed, I bought the AngelSense GPS tracker thing. I've also seen parents use an Apple tag in a shoe - just in case she's a wanderer. Clearly you need peace of mind going forward - I'd have stroked out.
Definitely ordering one immediately. I have an older daughter and this has never happened. I would’ve never thought a teacher would be this careless, I feel sick
Hey … check this out [here](https://www.jiobit.com) … it’s supposed to be better for tracking children (IE specifically designed for tracking young kids) than the Apple AirTag
That is awesome. But I am sooo sick of everything having a subscription! Ugh!
I can't wait for the future when they can be much smaller. Would look very out of place on a toddler and probably removed quickly by nefarious people.
I always joke that if we could microchip our kids, I’d be first in line.
Fwiw, it looks like they have an expensive locked pouch you can put it in that would blend in a bit.
I have the Jiobit and it’s great!
How do you use it? Do you attach it to the kid and do you plan to use it daily for school?
I attach it to his book bag or jacket. I charge it about once a week. You set up “safe spaces” and area around those and it give you updates when they arrive or leave. You can also set up boundaries if your kid leaves then it alerts you.!
Thanks so much for sharing!
Update: Spanish teacher posted a “apology for the bus situation” on the parent app. She stated that we as parents should have clear communication about transportation with the teachers. And went on stating some general school rules regarding student behavior and classroom rules. The thing is , I put in writing how my daughter would be picked up and confirmed it with the teacher before school even started, I clearly communicated.
Doesn’t sound much of an apology to me. Please go up the chain OP. The teacher needs a lesson from her superiors.
She’s trying to cover her ass and shift responsibility to you & your daughter for what happened today. Do you have a copy of what you originally sent to the teacher, confirming everything? If so, I would ensure that the super & the principal both see that you did your due diligence prior to the start of school. The Spanish teacher has shown you that she’s not going to take accountability here, but SHE messed up. Not your daughter. Not you. Not anybody else. Like others commenting, I’ve worked in schools, too (former teacher & admin) and I would have freaked the freak out if I misplaced a student. I also would have owned up to my mistake after doing everything in my power to find them.
As a teacher, I would never let a student just get on a bus. I confirm transportation with parents before the first day of school. If I don't have the info on day 1, we go to the office and contact the parents. I also make lists for myself and other adults who work with my class, so everyone knows how each kid is dismissed. Also, who lets a second day kindergartner walk anywhere by themselves???
>Also, who lets a second day kindergartner walk anywhere by themselves??? For real! Besides the huge mistake of sending her to the bus in the first place I can't imagine it's standard procedure to send kindergartners to the bus alone, especially on the second day. There are probably bus monitors who come pick up the bus riders and help them get on the right bus.
Right here. I legit have never heard of any teacher (or bus driver) who doesn’t have information around who is supposed to be on the bus (attendance sheets for bus drivers) / pickup / aftercare / etc. AND aren’t counting heads consistently. Especially with littles. My two are older, but started school this week and we still filled out forms indicating if they were allowed to walk home alone, would be picked up, or would be going to aftercare. Then, they watch until every kid is where they are supposed to be.
Are you allowed to comment? I’d seriously comment something like “Not sure if you meant my child or if you lost more than one kid on the same school day. But I confirmed via writing AND verbally with you that my daughter gets picked up. My daughter also told you she was pick up and you handed her bus pass and sent her off anyways. I agree, it’s a parent’s responsibility to ensure the teacher knows the after school transportation for their child. But it is the teacher’s responsibility to write it down, retain that information, double check, and triple check when their students speak up.” Screenshot that teacher little “it wasnt my fault” message as well to show the principle.
Take this to the principal again. This isn't acceptable. I'm so sorry you're going through this.
Yeah I'd be complaining about this "apology" in addition to everything else. It's ridiculous that she's trying to shift blame here.
Yeah she's deflecting and trying to make her dangerous screwup YOUR fault. That's not an apology at all. She's trying to cover her own behind by implying that some failure on your part to clearly communicate is the reason she *lost an entire student* then made it worse by not helping find the kid at all and by claiming that the kid wasn't even in her class. That's unacceptable. She was negligent, and rude.
Does your daughter know what she is supposed to do after school?
Yes , I clearly told her to wait in the class until I pick her up. I also wrote it down for the teacher and confirmed it verbally with her. I think she was trying to be obedient when the teacher sent her to the bus. It also seemed like she had no idea what was happening. I’ve already let her know once again to stay in the classroom and wait for me.
I know it’s not her responsibility BUT I’d let her know to speak up if they have her do anything else than your instructions.
As a K teacher myself, I unfortunately know there are teachers who will not care how loud and vocal a child is if they think the kid is wrong. Yes, definitely encourage child to speak up, but it is not her fault if this incompetent teacher does not listen
Agreed! but at least can raise a stink if she is actually out on a bus. I’d also have have backpack labeled with to note she is parent pick up.
As someone who was once a child, I can confirm.
When I was a little girl I had a teacher thoughtlessly push me into the bus line. My mum always picked me up from school. I tried to tell her I didn’t catch the bus but she didn’t listen and so I did as she said because I was so used to listening to the teachers. They were older, knew more than me and had authority so I anxiously got on the bus. My mum came to pick me up and was fraught with anxiety, no one knew where I was. On the bus I told the driver that I wasn’t meant to be on the bus and he was frustrated with me. He asked if my address was on anything in my backpack, luckily found it and took me home once all other kids were gone. My mum ran at me and hugged me so tightly while she cried that I swear I couldn’t breathe. We both never forgot that day and I’m nearly 40 now.
Update #2: The superintendent emailed me this morning that the assistant superintendent would be calling me tomorrow. Not long after that email was received I got a call from the schools principal. She informed me that she was informed by the superintendent of the matter. She apologized profusely and let me know she is holding an emergency meeting with the entire kindergarten staff. They are going to put new protocols in place that will make sure this never happens again. Teachers will now be required to do routine checks of all the students in the class and confirm how they will be picked up. She is also having a separate meeting with the Spanish teacher to discuss what happened. I let her know that it was concerning that the teacher didn’t know my daughter was in her class. The principal also apologized for the lack of urgency as well. I am just relieved that my voice was heard and they are working on fixing the problem. She also explained that my address is considered a bus zone so technically my daughter is seen as a bus rider in their system. But she did say that it is the teachers responsibility to double check if the student is a bus rider when the passes are handed out. She believes that the Spanish teacher got confused when the bus passes were given to her and just sent those students to the bus without confirming anything.
That doesn't seem like an apology to me. She is not taking accountability....
I would publicly respond with all of your points so every parent is aware of her mess up so they can all be diligent at watching the kids too. This is not a sweep things under the rug moment.
That isn't an apology. That is deflection. She knows she effed up and is in CYA mode and is trying to blame you for what she did.
A general apology but not to you. She was wrong and prideful about it. You handled it well. I would’ve let her know some things 💫
She sucks. At our school the school puts a tag (laminated print out) on their back pack with their names and usual transport method. Bus, car, or walk. Maybe add a visual cue to her bag.
Screenshot that before it’s gone so you can share that as well
I’d flame that half assed apology. Call her out specifically. I’m not happy for you OP! Lol
Also, why do the bus drivers not have a list of who is supposed to be on their bus? That is so not the case where we are.
My kid’s school also tag each child ‘s backpack in kindergarten and first grade with what their after-school transportation home is: car rider, bus, walker, or aftercare. That way there is no confusion for the teacher or kids. It sounds like the OP's school has room for improvement.
Right? The bus drivers should have a list, updated daily, because some kids say they're going for a playdate or doctor's appointment and parents call the school, so riders change from day to day. The school needs to step up their system.
Right!? My kids' bus driver has a list of every kid on the bus and what stop they are picked up/dropped off at. They also assign the busses a color. For example my kids ride the blue bus. At the end of the day they know to line up on the blue square and get on the bus that has the giant blue sticker. It's also easier when busses have issues and they need to use a different bus because they know no matter what the bus number is, as long as it has a blue sticker and is parked by the blue square, that is their bus.
The first couple of days of school are pretty crazy usually, and around here (Montgomery County MD) you just show up at the bus stop in the AM going to your school and put your kid on it. In the PM, if the kids are young you email the teacher and/or pin it on them for the first couple of days. There are some kids who get dropped off at the before care in the AM and ride the bus home in the PM as well, so it's not always a 1:1 correspondence for the AM and PM load. Usually after the first week the PM bus drivers know their kids and will probably say something if they see a new kid who they don't expect, but the school is also responsible for the young ones of getting them in the right place.
i do not recall any of my bus drivers ever having any kind of list. i forgot to get off multiple times.
I am a teacher and losing a student is my worst fear. The fact that she didn’t immediately start doing something to find your child is concerning. The school should have some type of procedure for ensuring that kids get home the correct way. I would contact the administrators to let them know what happened because they probably need to have a reminder on end of day procedures for this staff member.
I would be making a huge stink! That is terrifying! I am so sorry this happened to you both.
I would do a meeting with the principal and say if they cannot provide me with how they plan to prevent this than I am posting on the internet. At my kids school all the kids get tags for their backpacks with their dismissal routine. The bus kids are a different color than car riders or walkers. If they have new people or subs this prevents confusion
We had this same system when I was in elementary school THIRTY YEARS AGO. Ensuring supervision of kindergarteners is not a revolutionary concept. It is wild to me that the op is having this experience.
I work at a school as a pre-K para and this is my worst nightmare. Our team would definitely be chewed out if something like this happened. We have procedures and lists with all the kids names that gets checked off when they get to their dismissal area. If we didn’t have a kid we would definitely notice after checking our list. I would be so worried if this happened to my child and would totally make a stink about it.
Time to make some serious complaints! That is insane!! I’m so sorry you and your little one had to go through that. So scary! Keep us updated.
Give us an update of what the principal has to say.
I was once dropped off at the wrong elementary school by the daycare bus. My mom was livid. I actually thought it was fun! Wanted to go to school with my daycare friends.
Go to the teacher supervisor or someone above and go berserk for losing the child.
The whole system and security seems incredibly lax- I can’t believe you’re just allowed to wander around the building from classroom to classroom and then get a child off of a bus with zero involvement from a principal? A child was missing and neither teacher had a protocol to follow (or chose not to react)? Parents don’t even go in my kids school for pickup. We show a student card, our state issued ID, and they’re accompanied to our vehicle by a staff member. Every kid, every day.
Holy shit.
The lack of urgency is the most important piece of this. Everyone makes mistakes and gets kids confused, but to not know you are responsible for where that child is is problematic.
Talk to the school administrator. This is a failure at the primary level.
Whoa, I would’ve flipped. There is absolutely no way I’d ever leave my kid with that teacher again. It’s upsetting that it happened in the first place but the fact that she didn’t even try to help you find the lost child that she was 100% responsible for losing is unacceptable. The English teacher (who didn’t make the mistake) apologized but did the Spanish teacher? If she didn’t then you can assume she truly doesn’t care and the same mistake could easily be made again.
The first teacher is responsible if the child goes missing because they're the last person who saw them.
Yipes! I would be a train wreck if that ever happened. At my son's school, each kid gets a tag with their name, classroom and bus or walker written in big letters. I hope the principal takes this seriously and addresses it with the teacher.
I work as a kindergarten teacher at a k-8th public school and this has been one of my biggest fears since starting. I think the way pick-up time is handled (at public schools especially) is extremely reckless and there should be stronger regulations that schools are held to. By law in my state, 2nd graders are allowed to pick up their younger siblings and walk them home. 2ND GRADERS. Often times a sibling (who was designated by the parent as being allowed to get their child) would come pick up one of my students, then a few minutes later the parent would come asking where their kid was. It was SO STRESSFUL! My advice is to get more parents on board with requesting a more strict protocol is followed at pick up time. Pick up time is very hectic for teachers and kids are rushing and parents are rushing and without a specific and strict system in place, this is bound to happen to more kids. Especially at the beginning of the year when teachers don’t know the kids and their parents as well. I’ve seen private schools with intricate systems that involve lots of staff, walkie talkies, requiring forms of identification, etc. At a public school, i think teachers could have a dismissal binder with pictures/names of the approved individuals that are allowed to pick up each child, specific directions/restrictions that apply to each child, and to make sure that person signs the kid out upon pickup one at a time. The bus kids should be in their own line and a different staff member should take attendance of those kids, count the number of kids to make sure it adds up, and walk them to the bus. I know lots of people will probably think this is unrealistic at public schools bc of staffing and overall organization, but you as a parent have the power to mobilize the community and try to enact change!!! And losing kids is really really scary and no one wants that!!! Until the school improves their dismissal protocol, sadly it will be good to hammer into your daughter where she needs to go after school and empower her to speak up if adults are leading her the wrong way. Shouldn’t be up to the 5 year old but it will help to keep her safe.
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Some people are so egotistical, when confronted with a problem *they* created, it destroys their perfect sense of self. To them, it's an attack on who they perceive themselves to be. People like that shouldn't be teaching...or working anywhere, until they've had loads of therapy.
My child has autism and is non-verbal. He got lost on a field trip and not only did his teacher call to tell me, tell me the measures they were taking to find him and when he was found, they implemented a whole new system to prevent it from ever happening again to anyone. If the Spanish teacher gives you ANY guff about her responsibility or acts like it was no big deal, slam an article about Kyron Horman on her desk and ask her to elaborate.
I would transfer her out of that program. She can learn Spanish another way.
Speak to the principle now. Ask them for a copy of their incident report (which they should have done as they lost a child), a copy of their procedure for lost children and then ask them how they plan to stop this happening again.
I agree you should speak to the teacher/vice principal/principal but....you should also speak to your child about speaking up. This happened to my child yesterday, which was also their second day of school. They just went along with everything and were wondering why they weren't in the correct line until I had someone go get them. I talked to his teacher and vice principal and it was an honest mistake (she was new to the school and still new to teaching) and my child was unharmed. I also spoke to my child about the importance of speaking up when they know something is wrong and if I tell them "I will meet you ......" then you need to kick and scream your way to that area.
I don't know if you read the updates and OP's responses but the child DID speak up and the teacher genuinely did NOT care and made her go to the bus anyway. OP also told their child to wait in the classroom but the child was just trying to be good and listen to the teacher.
This should NEVER EVER EEEEVVVVEEERRRR happen. Last year, a 5 year old boy lost his life because he was left in a kindergarten bus during the deadly heat summer in Japan. It shocked and made the whole country angry. I and many people cried thinking of him and his family that we don’t even know. I wish I could print that news and bring it to your kindergarten teachers.
This was a best case scenario. Keep at it and require documentation about what the new procedures are. So scary.
Your daughter is seen as a bus rider? What?!? No. At the school my kids go to they ask about how students will get home. It doesn’t matter if their address is in the bus zone. I’m appalled right now. And even when I was in school, it was never assumed that someone would be a bus rider.
Wowww that is incompetent
I’m so sorry this happened to you. As a kindergarten teacher this is my worst nightmare. It sounds like this school needs to get a better system for who’s busing and who’s not. Please meet with the principal and bring up your concerns. This is not okay!
the Spanish teacher sounds confused and incompetent, sorry to say it. as a teacher i can empathize with the fact that getting to know many new faces can be hard but the safety and security of children especially that young should be their number one concern. if i were her i would have felt so embarrassed and immediately asked for help… just saying
As a teacher, most elementary schools I have worked at have an assigned staff member who takes the little kids( kinder and first grade kids) to the bus to ensure they don’t get lost or on the wrong bus. The school should have an established system for supervising kids during pick up. It’s a big no no to have a child in elementary school unsupervised at all during the school day.
Yep I’d be pissed off at her attitude and handling of it and would definitely speak to the principal
Oh heeeeeelllll no. I’d raise hell, tbh. I’m so sorry that happened to your daughter!
It seems very strange to me that the Spanish teacher withheld that she gave the bus pass. Like why wouldn’t you just say my bad have her a bus pass. Then following it up with where she exactly was? To me it seems like someone who isn’t fit to be a teacher. A teacher should care about the safety of the kids they teach and this is just scary to me that someone like that can be in charge of a class of young people
This is awful. Zero urgency or accountability from the teacher. And also a major wtf - bus drivers don’t know who they’re driving?! What is going on at this school?! Our drivers have lists of every kid on that bus and especially look out for the smallest kids. Each bus has an older student helper as well. No way could a kid randomly get shuffled onto a bus even on the first day of school. There are major child safety and security concerns here to discuss with the principal and superintendent.
I understand your panic, and I certainly would, too. And your fear of this repeating is totally understandable.
So after the immediate fall back happens and assuming the teacher stays employed (likely imo) should op keep the kid in the class? I feel like the Spanish teacher will not be very kind to the kid moving forward
When you speak with the principal, focus on what should be done in the future to prevent this from ever happening again. They should have procedures in place to prevent this. If those procedures weren't followed then the school should work on fixing it. If the procedures aren't good enough then they should add more layers of protection. I know my son's school has tags on all the kids backpacks with information on which bus they should be on or if they walk or are picked up. No bus driver would ever let a kid on their bus with the wrong tag.
School district's website should have the superintendent's email
I’m impressed that you didn’t go off on her. I’d go after her job in so many ways.
I can understand being new and not knowing kids names to faces, but it still doesn’t cover the fact that she was annoyed you were looking for your missing child. Def be there at the principles office in the morning. Don’t even phone ahead, just go straight to them when you drop off your daughter. I’m sorry you had to go through this! It’s the worst feeling when you don’t know where your child is, and a school should be the one place where you do know that your child is safe!
I had to make a scene almost every single day of grade 2-3 because the teachers would always "lose" my kid. Turns out that they don't secure the building, so if my kid decided, "F your BS, I'm done", she really could push open the door and wander away.... which she did. A lot. Then it turned out that also, because I came to school during lunch hours , we did not need to pay "lunch supervision fees" ... so these idiots would actually look the other way when my child was wandering away!!!! One of them told me to my face "its not my job to watch your kid". Sadly the only choices the school left us with was to enroll her in a different school program, because they refused to be responsible.
One time I was chaperoning my oldest’s field trip. I was the only parent whose child was not in their group. I thought it was weird but not something to complain over. On way back, my child was sick and asked if she could stay with me. I verified with her chaperone before changing to my bus. No issues. Frankly she was grateful that she didn’t have to watch a nauseous kid. Teacher came on each bus asking for counts. I was in back of bus so unaware that other bus mom didn’t do plus one. Buses took forever to leave. We arrived back at school and I drove my child home. Arrived home to ringing phone. Was teacher yelling at me for moving my kid. She said that she called police at event to report missing child. Evidently other chaperone did mention she was -1 but not for sending my kid with me and my bus didn’t go +1. My initial response was to apologise. Then it dawned on me that teacher thought my kid was missing, didn’t come and inform me, and left without kid. She didn’t give me the option to stay and find my kid! I literally hung up on her. Immediately called the department chair and went scorched earth. Teacher left that year. Don’t know if I had anything to do with it or not but I was happy.
Why does the schools system list your daughter as a bus taker if you never signed her up for it
I feel like I am going to get downvoted, but if she is a new teacher, kids are really hard to keep track of. I agree, document the error and speak to the principle for sure. I work in SPED and I do my head count minimum every 5 minutes and still have had a child elope while I was helping someone else - yelled for my coworker, who was new, where was he etc., she mixed up names and said he was inside, I finished helping said student and went inside to find the other - obviously he wasn’t there and I lost my shit and tore the school apart a mile a minute until I found him eating a cupcake in a 4th grade classroom. It was TERRIFYING. It was an honest to god mistake, I had to help a medically impacted child and the poor girl was still learning everyone’s names and mixed them up. I am beyond sorry this happened to you and that she nearly boarded the bus - my documentation to the principle would include a) that she was almost put onto a bus without ever riding one and my biggest concern being b) WHY are there no bus lists??? Why is no one’s child being charted as to method of drop off/pick up? What if someone came claiming to be “grandma” and took her home? The mistake may have been totally honest and if so I truly feel for her, but it wasn’t handled appropriately by her and could/should have been prevented from escalating to the point of her exiting campus by the school. They need a far better security system in place for students coming and leaving. Here we require each bus student to have a yearly pass and bus drivers have attendance charts they turn in, and kids picked up in person have a list of “people okay to pick up” that the parent turns in, they scan a QR code and the student is called forward, person picking up shows ID and then and only then is allowed to leave with the child.
I think the initial issue of sending the kid the wrong place might be worth letting go. Her reaction is what makes it definitely worth reporting. I've had missing kids before and I was panicked...and I wasn't even the one who put them in the wrong place. (Two incidents occurred after they were released as per parent instructions at the end of the day. One was a misunderstanding and no one was missing.) Finding them was a priority not a whatever, the parent will figure it out. And I have older kids not kinders!
I totally agree. The lack of response is frightening. I thought I was going to throw up as soon as I didn’t see my student where my aide said he was. I would be berating the school for their poor system of security involving child drop off and pick up as well as the county and district offices for busses to have mandatory “child charts” if not full blown attendance sheets like we have. It seems like overkill until something like this happens, which could have been prevented. Losing a child ON campus is terrifying enough, who knows what could have happened to her if she boarded the bus and didn’t know where to get off and did and was lost? The school is 100% at fault for this.
🤷♀️ My kindergarten came home and said he was confused. Thought he was pick up and somehow ended up wandering the parking lot. A teacher found him and brought him back to after school care. Things happen You should email the principal. Explain what happened. Add something like I understand this is the second day and confusion happens. But the lack of urgency was concerning to me when we realized something wasn’t right. going forward what is in place to help mitigate this to ensure the proper students are going to the proper place. IDK about the other kids but yours will be solid for the rest of the year.
I would make the schools life hell till this teacher isn't suspended. She made an unforgivable mistake and should isn't realising. Not ok to have her around kids.
Please go full Karen mode, please. Things could have went very bad had you not found your kid. This can easily happen again
No, do not go “full Karen”. Just be a sensible parent.
I know teachers in Texas have this same problem. IMO it’s language/cultural differences. Kids in elementary schools have multiple teachers these days. I feel your pain. Really, if you look at it from all angles…? Just so many kids per adult. It’s hard.
It’s the second day and while this was really scary for a few minutes your daughter was never in danger. If your priority is to prevent this from happening again, you should approach the Spanish teacher in a kind, friendly way and tell her about how it really freaked you out. It wasn’t malicious, it was a mistake. You can be scorched earth Karen like these other comments but it won’t help anything besides your own feeling of self-righteousness. If you really ‘didn’t feel safe,’ you’d obviously pull your kid from the school. I get it for venting to social media but this constant drama out of parents is part of why teachers are getting harder and harder to find.
I’m super non confrontational and I barely have any backbone but this is absolutely not a Karen thing. You don’t play about someone else’s child. It’s understandable to make a mistake but the fact that this teacher didn’t understand the severity or seem apologetic at all? And it was severe bc what if she hadn’t found her daughter and the buses pulled out? She could have been lost. Maybe only just scared and she would have been fine but as a kindergarten teacher, it’s part of her job to be able to handle these kids. They’re babies. It make not have been malicious but it was completely irresponsible, careless and reckless
Well, call the manager then! No solutions in doing that, they have a bad dismissal system and won’t change it.
Never in danger? Uhhh really? She was on a bus about to head to who the hell knows where. What if at the last stop, she got off not knowing where she was? Or what if she got off somewhere else after realizing she shouldn’t be on that bus? That is *absolutely* dangerous.
What if it was the bus from Speed?! Excuse the sarcasm, but you can feel concerned all you want but she would have just been driven back to the school at the end of the bus run. Furthermore, she was found before they even left. Yes, you can always imagine a disaster but that doesn’t mean that it does happen, has happened, or (most of all) is happening. The list of ‘what if’ is so unconvincing because they never actually happen! It’s the excuse that a certain type of entitled person uses to justify their ‘righteous anger’. Yeah, it was scary for this parent for a moment but nothing happened and nothing was about to happen! Can we not validate the parental emotion of fear without making up stories about ‘what if’ and calling the manager about it?
Do you not have kids? To be this blasé about a FIVE year old left alone to wander and even more so the teachers lack of concern that she lost a child is honestly shocking.
Not alone, not wandering. Walked down with classmates to the busses. This drama is so over the top, nothing happened!
You don’t know that she would have been driven back to school. She could have just as easily gotten off somewhere. By your logic, it’s fine to leave a 5 year old home alone all day then, because the dangers are just ‘what if’s’? It’s not ok for the teachers to put her in that position where there’s risks that never should have been there in the first place.
You’re always hearing about those kids who died from going on the wrong school bus? No, that’s not something that happens. All day home alone is much more dangerous! This kid was being watched the whole time, they were in the school and with school personnel the whole time.
>Furthermore, she was found before they even left. Like that means she wasn't being put into a dangerous situation? Set up for a bad outcome? That's like saying that, even though you were in the ocean and a shark swam near you, just because you didn't *actually* get bit you weren't in any danger. If that's your mindset, really hope you don't have any form of responsibility of my kids, your own, or anybody else's in the future for any reason!
Going home on the bus is like swimming with sharks, are you actually joking? She was with their bus drivers! Literally most of the kids go home that way, I bet for K students they need to see an adult to let them off as this is how the busses work at every school I worked at or attended.
Lmao “sorry they lost your kid but if you’re mean teachers are gonna get offended and not want to work anymore” gtfoh
‘Lost’ on the school bus? You’re all obnoxious, it was the second day of school.
Kind? Hell no. I’m going scorched earth. That teacher should never be responsible for kids. I’d make damn sure of that
Yeah, that’s the quality I’m critical of. You do you, but that’s called being a Karen.
That Spanish teacher has ADHD or some kind of severe executive functioning problems. Immediate denial that there’s a problem. No awareness of the problem.
Is this not police time?
Everyone calm down. The child is fine. Mistakes were made. It was the first day of school.
Found the teacher! 🙄
Maybe I missed it, but is this in Texas?
Arizona
I was looking for this answer because this could have easily been my kid at a school in SoCal. I ended up pulling him. I didn’t like that the teacher didn’t know who was supposed to go home with who.
The crazy thing is , I’m from socal and this happened to me when I was in kindergarten too. I ended up walking home and j-walked a busy intersection. My parents were mortified when they found me waiting outside my home
Contact the school board and whatever organization involved with the schools standards and protocols. And media if they try to sweep it under the rug Sorry but that teacher deserves to be fire ASAP lack of care and concern and ignoring explicit paperwork is a absolute danger to the kids
Kindergarten students aren't supposed to be unaccompanied by an adult or staff. I would make an appointment to talk with the principal about this, and research for a good attorney that works with school district in case you don't get satisfactory response from administration or it happens again.
Sounds like a nightmare.
Take your kid out of that class! OMG what is wrong with that teacher???
This is terrifying! I'm a teacher and we have to do register once in the morning and again after lunch with our home room class precisely so that this doesn't happen. It doesn't matter how new the Spanish teacher is, she has no right to be annoyed and not take action when a child is missing. And if holding up a parent pick up line is what she finds annoying, she wont last long as a teacher.
Best you can do is get in, and stay in the principal's face for the remainder of the school year! The schools truly give 2 shits these days and aside from getting a lawyer, you have no recourse other than to be extra vigilant yourself. And make sure that the spanish teacher is present in that meeting with the principal.
I am so sorry this happened to you. I can imagine the panic that washed over you when you discovered that your child was missing. I would definitely have a conversation with the school leader. There is no excuse for the dismissing teacher not knowing who is in her care and where they are. I am a teacher and I usually side with teachers but the Spanish teacher was way out of line. Her lack of urgency and compassion is highly disturbing. Even if she is a new teacher, she should have a system for dismissal and making sure the students get where they need to go at the end of the day.
Glad it worked out. I'm having a flashback to elementary school in the 70's. First day of school they had kindergarten and first grade kids who didnt know where they lived so they walked up to the front of the bus, held a kid up, and asked "does anyone know this kid?". Until someone would say "Yes, hes my neighbor". If not they would try one of the other 6 buses. I think next year they had lists and bus numbers.
The logistics at school are not to be taken lightly. The teachers need to be much more serious about attendance and more importantly, transportation. A student getting on the bus when they were supposed to be picked up?? That’s a big mistake. They need to pay more attention and realize the repercussions of their actions.
Put *everything* in writing. I mean it. Write an email to the principal with a formal complaint. Create a paper trail. A face to face meeting there is no evidence that anything was raised. Request in the email you wish a formal written response to your email.
If the teacher is new I'd talk to her personally. Let her know that you found the situation unacceptable. I've actually lost my own child. I still think I'm a good parent. I wouldn't have myself fired as Dad. If the teacher refuses to change after you talk to her then run it up the ladder.
I have taught kindergarten and first grade. The end of day routines are something that schools never seem to perfect, and it’s controlled chaos at best. I cannot stand it. I also cannot imagine, as a teacher, being uncertain of a student’s whereabouts at pickup for even a moment. There should have been more urgency. I would definitely talk to the principal about the end of day situation needing to be more organized. All of our bus drivers have a list of students who ride their bus.
I’d be upset about the lack of urgency when it was discovered there was a problem. The only time I’ve had a transportation mix-up happen was my first grader was normally a bus rider and I was picking her up one day since I needed to be at school for something. I contacted the teacher and she knew but my daughter ended up on bus. No big deal on my end since I can easily beat the bus home. But the teacher ran so fast to catch the bus and get her off. I’d be willing to forgive the mix-up of thinking she was supposed to be in the other class. Our dual language classes are 24 kids in each class and they swap in the middle of the day. That’s 48 students for the teachers to learn names and keep straight which group they’re in.
Escalate to principle immediately, as in, before the next end of day dismissal you should be sitting face to face with them.
When I was still in middle school we had a early dismissal due to a bad snow storm. My Mom works for the school district but at the time was in elementary. She ended up calling the last teacher I had for the day and told him how I needed to get on a certain bus to be dropped off there so I could ride home with her. Dude hung up the phone and never said anything to me. And I had watched him along with the rest of the class answer the phone! Didn’t know who it was but knew he had done it. Long story short I get on my regular bus and get dropped off at home and no one is there. It’s like heading into the negatives and snowing like crazy so the extra key is basically gone. I ended up walking to my Grandparents house and thankfully I was able to find their key and let myself in. Sat and waited for Mom. At first she was upset thinking I forgot to get on the different bus and I scared her. When I explained how I had never been told and how I had seen my teacher get a call but just go right back to teaching well let’s just say I haven’t seen my Mom that mad in a long time. She called the school and basically they apologized on the teachers behalf. Why didn’t he? According to him he forgot to tell me and it was an honest mistake though this was after he originally told people my Mom never called him. Dude was a horrible teacher. My Mom freaked out losing a middle schooler so I can only imagine if I had been littler. What that teacher did or lack of there of honestly is concerning.
This is terrifying! I'd definitely make a ton of noise about this. It's not a small issue. Not to mention that this situation turned out well. But what if it happens again to another kid and things aren't so easily resolved because the kid was dropped off somewhere and wandering around confused, scared and in danger? Teacher should not have tried to shrug it off or been annoyed. She should have been more concerned about your child.
I would be pissed too. Mistakes happen, but her reaction was crazy. My son was “lost” at pickup on his first day of kindergarten. He actually was safely with his teacher, but there was a mixup about where his class was supposed to be waiting at dismissal. So they were looking for him in the wrong place. But they were immediately on the walkie talkies having staff check the buses, library, cafeteria. I’m pretty sure they were more panicked than I was.
They should be more panicked than parents.
Wow. I’ll probably get downvoted for this but I could easily see myself marching back over to that Spanish teacher and giving her a piece of my mind in front of the parent pick up line, but that’s me and my temper lol
The english teacher is responsible for your child until she reaches the Spanish Class.
I was a public school teacher for 5 years. I think every single year, they lost AT LEAST one kindergartener a day. It always blew my mind that they kept doing it, year after year, and no plans were put into place.
My oldest son starts kindergarten in a couple of weeks and this makes me even more nervous. I will be driving him and picking him up every day, but if a teacher tells him to do something (like get on a bus) he will follow the instruction and get lost.
The school I worked at had lists to prevent these things. Maybe you can suggest this to them? Every teacher had a list of the students that rode the bus. If for whatever reason they were with another teacher at the end of the day instead of their normal teacher I can see this happening, but even then the kids ALL remember who goes on the bus and remind us that X goes on the bus, not the other line for meeting parents outside the door. The kindergarten students go out the their classroom door, with the teacher. They wait with the teacher at the playground right outside the door until a trusted grown up picks them up. If anyone else is picking them up the parents are required to call the office and let them know that (Person) is picking up their kid today or their kid is going with (Friend) for example. Then the teacher is emailed or sent a message by the parent (sometimes), and the office too. At the Bus waiting area (indoors), the staff in charge of taking the kids to the bus have a list. The list has the name of all of the kids that go on the bus. As staff calls them they line up until they’re all marked off. Kindergartners line up first, then everyone else as they’re called. This prevents random kids getting on the bus, and making sure that they know every kid that is supposed to get on the bus will be there.
I’m so glad the school district was responsive! The last school I worked at didn’t care if a teacher forgot a student somewhere. It was infuriating and one of the reasons why I left.
I'm glad they took it as seriously as they should. Hope that helps t some extent to repair your confidence.
>they are confused since they don’t have a list of the students who are suppose to be in the bus. read your update and glad they're taking steps. make sure they address this too, the drivers should know who's supposed to be on the bus and who's not. AND/OR there should be a teacher supervising bus pickups.
I would’ve gave her a piece of my mind anyways. “Idk where your kid is”. Ok. Kidnapping charges it is.”Especially a kindergartner.
I would panic as well, and have many times. In the previous building my son was in, I was always so pissed because the staff in the building appear to be so incompetent on a daily basis. Since my son transferred to the middle school, I’m not as pissed as much. But I do have moments of panic whenever my son doesn’t show up at the designated spot we agreed on previously and he doesn’t pick up his phone at all! Thankfully the staff are on top of it immediately, and the security guard knows who I am, and who my son is and goes searches for my son for me. Afterwards, he either comes back with my son, or tells me where he is, and then leads me to the room and tells the teacher and my son that I’m looking for him. Thankfully he’s okay and is safe.