CHARLOTTE, N.C. —
If you ask Charlotte dad Zacchary McLean, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools failed a pretty important test on Thursday.
“You guys didn’t do your job," McLean said.
He said the subject of this test was trust and safety. Thursday, McLean dropped his 8-year-old son Carter off at the bus stop to go to school.
“Seen him get on, seen the doors close," McLean said. "I said alright, I’m headed off to work."
McLean went home for about 20 minutes before heading to work. Then he saw something that stumped him.
“My son Carter walks right back through the door, and we're like how are you here, and why are you here," McLean asked. “We get a knock on our door from two concerned parents saying they drove Carter home from the bus stop. He said he had to get off the bus because it was overcrowded.”
McLean and his wife reached out to CMS and transportation services to figure out why their 8-year-old was left at the corner.
The department told McLean the driver followed policy.
"When buses are overcrowded, they kick off kids and they leave them at the bus stop for them to wait until the next bus arrives," McLean said.
McLean said his wife then asked CMS where her son was as a test, assuming the district would have known as he was removed from the bus. In this case, she said the district "wasn't sure."
“These situations can cause kids to go missing," McLean said.
Transportation services also said the security tape inside the bus was pulled and sent to the national office. WCNC Charlotte asked for a copy of the security tape but didn't receive a response.
"You got to make sure those kids are safe before you leave," McLean said.
McLean said CMS has a lot left to learn so this doesn't happen to any other child.
“Policy needs to be changed," McLean said. “You don’t know what could happen.”
McLean said the solution could be calling for a second bus and then having the first bus wait until the extra children are loaded on the second bus. Then, both buses would head to campus at the same time.
WCNC Charlotte reached out to CMS about the incident. The district responded with the following statement:
"If a bus is overcrowded, our policy is that the bus is to remain onsite until a relief bus arrives to pick up impacted students. We are currently investigating the details surrounding today's bus stop incident. We will review it against our current procedures and adjust as necessary to ensure this does not occur again."
Contact Austin Walker at awalker@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Note: A previous version of this article used incorrect spelling for Zacchary McLean.