Nationwide — Antonia Lacy, an African American mom from New Orleans, says she endured the longest 40 minutes of her life when her 7-year-old son didn’t come home from school, later finding out he had been left asleep on his bus after a possible transfer mix-up.
Lacy was waiting at the bus stop in New Orleans last week when the vehicle arrived without her child. In a panic, she called the school, contacted the police, and posted a desperate plea for help on social media.
She later learned her son may have been caught in a new bus transfer system where students switch buses mid-route. During the ride, he fell asleep in his seat. Lacy says no one noticed him before the bus was cleared.
“He was laying down, they didn’t see him,” she said. “After they cleared the bus, nobody walked through to see if a child was left behind.”
When staff eventually found him, he was still asleep, unaware of the chaos. “He told me, ‘Mommy, it’s OK, I was asleep. Don’t cry.’ But what he doesn’t understand is he’s all I have,” she said.
Community members quickly rallied to help search for the boy. Lacy says the support was overwhelming, but believes the incident could have been avoided if bus drivers double-checked their vehicles.
“It was more so the bus driver’s fault,” she said. “I feel like that should be standard protocol.”
The school later said parents will soon be able to track their children in real time. Officials claimed the driver did check the bus and that the child was never in danger. They are still investigating whether a bus transfer took place.