A Ventura County family is demanding answers after a school bus stop mix-up left their daughter "lost" and "crying" in an unfamiliar neighborhood for an hour and a half.
"She was scared," the girl's grandfather, Salvador Palomo, told NBC4.
Palomo said his granddaughter was forced off at the wrong stop in Oxnard even though no one was there to pick her up. She was left on the far side of the campus.
The 9-year-old, who doesn't speak English, said she was lost and crying.
Neighbors found the girl and read an ID badge she had with her and took her home to her parents.
During the girl's ordeal, her family was frantically calling the school to ask why their daughter didn't get off the bus with the other children. Officials told them they did not know.
Oxnard School District Superintendent Cesar Morales said that a school aide assisted the girl at the stop after she was let off the bus. Morales added that the girl told the aide she knew where she lived and walked away.
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But, the girl told NBC4 that she didn't know how to get home and that the aide didn't help her with directions.
The school's superintendent said they will review protocol and procedures to ensure that a mix-up like this doesn't happen again.
Palomo said the family met with School Board Trustee Denis O'Leary on Friday to request his help in investigating the incident.
"We're thankful our child is safe, but this could have ended in tragedy while she was walking afraid and alone on the street or taken without us knowing what happened," Palomo said in a press release.
Marco Benitez, a community advocate who assists Spanish-speaking families in the school district, said this is only the latest instance where the district has "failed to respond to the needs of the Spanish-speaking community."
Members of the community are expected to address the incident at Wednesday's school board meeting.
