PITTSBURGH \u2014 A five-year-old King Elementary School student wasn\u2019t even supposed to be on the school bus Thursday, so you can imagine how surprised her mother was when she found out her daughter was let off the school bus by herself on Federal Street on the North Side.<\/p>\n
The grandmother of a King Elementary School Student is grateful her granddaughter is OK after her ordeal at dismissal Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe could\u2019ve gotten hit by a car; somebody could\u2019ve snatched her up – anything could\u2019ve happened to her,\u201d Percita Ford said.<\/p>\n
It was her first day of Kindergarten, and she was never supposed to be on the bus.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy daughter dropped her off and told the school that she would be picked up by the daycare. And then she called the school and let them know just to verify that she would be picked up by the daycare, but that didn\u2019t happen; they put her on the bus,\u201d Ford explained.<\/p>\n
While she was on the bus, the driver was notified the 5-year-old shouldn\u2019t be on board and to take her back to King Elementary.<\/p>\n
Instead, he dropped her off along Federal Street when the child told the driver her mother worked there.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t listen to a 5-year-old, especially when we got the notice saying that if you\u2019re not at the bus stop they will be brought back to the school. That\u2019s what should\u2019ve happened,\u201d Ford said.<\/p>\n
Witnesses say the little girl first ran into a beer distributor before crossing Federal Street and telling a security guard she needed help.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe went in, and she was describing her mom and telling him her name, and they let her – I guess whoever was there let her walk back out crying, and then whoever knew my daughter ran and got my daughter, and she ran up to get her baby,\u201d Ford said.<\/p>\n
Today, Pittsburgh Public Schools told Channel 11 in a statement, \u201cFollowing an investigation into the incident, the driver involved has been removed from all Pittsburgh Public Schools routes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think he should\u2019ve been fired. Yes. Because why would you let her off on Federal Street without an adult there? Without anybody to pick her up?\u201d Ford said.<\/p>\n
Fortunately, the 5-year-old wasn\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n
Channel 11 reached out to Cushman and Wakefield, which manages the security guards for the building where the little girl ran for help, but has not heard back.<\/p>\n
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