Folsom daycare facility forgets 5-year-old on bus for 2 hours
FOLSOM — A Folsom daycare forgot a boy, 5, on a bus for hours, and now the boy's mother is speaking out. The mother hopes this does not happen to any other children.
"He sat there in an 80-degree-plus bus with a jacket and pants on crying and crying for two hours," said Jennifer Tracey, the mother of Connor who was forgotten on the bus. "I do not know how I could live with it if he had died."
When Tracey's husband went to pick up Connor from Lexington Hill KinderCare facility on the evening of March 20, he did not see him and started asking questions.
"What if he was lost? What if he is at school still? What if he was taken?" Tracey said were all thoughts rushing through her husband's mind. "Their response was 'We have not seen him since that morning.' "
Her husband threatened to call the police, but 12 minutes later, they found Connor still strapped to his bus seat in the parking lot.
"He was dehydrated. He was drenched in sweat," said Tracey. "Due to his health condition, he is in a harness, a safety harness on the bus."
The KinderCare bus usually transports Connor to and from afternoon kindergarten at a nearby Folsom school. Tracey said that day he had been picked up from the campus at around 3:30 p.m. and stuck on the bus until her husband picked him up at around 5:30 p.m.
Tracey said this is not the first time the daycare has forgotten Connor. Earlier this school year, she claimed the KinderCare bus forgot to pick him up from kindergarten. That time, he was waiting in the office, not strapped to a bus, but she said she now regrets not seeking action then.
"It is a parent's worst nightmare, and I had no idea he was even in danger," said Tracey about this latest incident.
Tracey is quitting her dream job to make sure this never happens to her son again. Connor is currently still at KinderCare, but since it is spring break, Tracey said he has not been on a bus since.
"Come Monday, I will be the sole person picking him up from kindergarten and dropping him off at kindergarten," said Tracey.
She said what happened traumatized her son who usually loves playing with dinosaurs and his little brother.
"He woke up screaming," said Tracey. "He told me his nightmares were fighting to be released, to be protected."
She is taking him to his first counseling session on Wednesday, hoping he will be able to talk through some of the trauma.
"At that age, children are really reliant on the adults around them to take care of their basic needs, including physical safety," said clinical and forensic neuropsychologist Dr. Judy Ho. "And without that physical safety, kids do not have psychological safety either."
Dr. Ho recommends play therapy if Connor does not feel like talking.
"Just remember children are really resilient, as long as you give them that avenue and space to feel safe again," Dr. Ho said.
KinderCare gave CBS13 this statement:
"Nothing is more important to us than the safety of the children in our care. We're relieved and grateful that the child wasn't hurt. However, we have strict safety protocols, specific to bus safety, that should have prevented this kind of situation. Unfortunately, those protocols were not followed. As a result, the staff member involved is no longer a KinderCare employee.
We also reported this issue to state licensing and retrained our teachers and staff on bus safety."
The center is also being fined $500 and will now need biannual inspections.
CBS13 also checked with the California Department of Social Services. It said the department cited the facility for an absence of supervision and put it under enhanced monitoring by the department.
Tracey said it is not enough for what her son and family are now healing from.
"That is not enough to protect our children," said Tracey. "What they did was essentially torture my child for two hours."