D.C. Mother Wants Answers After Her Daughter’s Bus Ride to School Took Two and a Half Hours

A Washington, D.C. mother wants answers after her daughter’s bus ride to school took two and a half hours.

Channing Gillus, 6, missed breakfast and three important sessions, “which are critical for her development because she has Down syndrome and she is in a special education program,” said her mother, Asha Gillus. The young girl lives in Shepard Park, not too far from her school Janney Elementary where she’s currently in summer learning. According to NBC 4 Washington, the girl’s school is located in Tenleytown.

But two weeks ago, her bus showed up 15 minutes late to pick her. This was the start of a strange day for the child. “[Extended school year learning] starts at 9 a.m. at 10 a.m., I text Channing’s teacher just to say, ‘Hey, what time did Channing get to school?’ And her response was, ‘Channing’s not here,'” said Gillus.

Gillus says no one knew where her child was. “I start calling people, texting people, emailing the director of transportation of [the Office of the State Superintendent of Education] in all caps ‘WHERE IS CHANNING?’ calling the school,” Gillus continued. Just in case the bus planned on returning Channing home, Gillus decided to stay at their house. “It was a fear, something I still deal with every day because I still have no answers,” she said.

It wasn’t until two and a half hours later that Channing arrived at her school. Reports show the bus driver was new but that they had a GPS. “I asked for the camera footage. Apparently, there are cameras on the buses that are not operational,” she said. The next day, a private transportation contractor, a driver, and an attendant were sent to her home to take her to school.

“I get a call from Channing’s former daycare center, that is down the street from her school, saying something happened,” Gillus said. The contractor ended up taking her to the child’s former child care provider, the news outlet reports. “So they took Channing to the wrong building,” her mother said.

To make sure the mixup never happens again, the Office of the State Superintendent of Education promised Gillus that it would fix the issue. However, Gillus isn’t satisfied and wants to know what happened while her child was with the bus driver for two and a half hours. “I found this out by happenstance. I cannot imagine the things that we do not know,” Gillus said.