FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas – A Fort Bend ISD mother is speaking out after her daughter was left unaccounted for on a school bus for nearly two hours — raising serious concerns about the district’s transportation safety procedures.
Michelle Lemon’s daughter, Bryne, is a 9th grader at Hightower High School. Lemon says Bryne is picked up every morning between 6:29 and 6:35 a.m. But on Thursday, Bryne got on the school bus and did not return home at her scheduled drop-off time.
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Thirty minutes after Bryne was expected home, Lemon called Fort Bend ISD Transportation to locate her daughter — and says she did not get a straight answer.
“When that lady said ‘ma’am describe your daughter,’ my heart sunk, that’s like — your worst nightmare, parents’ worst nightmare. ‘Describe my daughter?’ Umm what? I felt disappointed. I really felt like they didn’t care about my child at all,” Lemon said.
An hour after Bryne’s scheduled drop-off time, she was still not home. When Lemon reached the bus driver, she was told Bryne’s name was not on the list.
“Her name is not on the paper? So you got my daughter who is a Jane Doe, riding from… one she is riding on your bus everyday, to school and back, and today she is riding for a couple hours and you have no idea,” Lemon said.
Bryne eventually made it home around 4:30 p.m.
Mom points finger at transportation department
Lemon says Hightower High School responded to her concerns as quickly as possible and believes the issue lies specifically with FBISD Transportation. She also noted a lack of empathy from the attendee she spoke with over the phone.
By Friday morning, several district officials were on a call with Lemon, including Dahria Driskell, Executive Director for FBISD Special Education.
Lemon says her goal is to make sure this never happens to another family.
“I just need to know moving forward that there is a procedure in place, where the child is protected and looked after, but it would be nice to know that I can trust Fort Bend ISD with my daughter’s safety,” Lemon told Driskell on the phone.
Fort Bend ISD responds
Fort Bend ISD released a statement saying the safety and well-being of every student remain its highest priority, and that the student was never missing or left unsupervised.
“The District is aware of a student who experienced a delay in transportation home yesterday evening. At no time was the student missing or left unsupervised,” the district said in a statement.
The district says when transportation staff could not verify the student’s assigned bus stop, established safety procedures were followed. Because the student did not have school identification available, the driver contacted the Transportation Service Terminal to verify the student’s information and address.
“The student remained safe and under staff supervision throughout the process,” the district said.
Fort Bend ISD acknowledged the delay was concerning for the family, adding that the early days of a new school year can surface opportunities to improve coordination, communication and customer service.
“Fort Bend ISD is reviewing the situation with campus and transportation staff to help prevent similar delays. Because this matter involves an individual student, the District cannot provide additional details,” the statement read.