BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
Deaqunita Joseph displayed the
school pass she says her 14 year old son was given after he chipped his tooth
during a morning gym class at Valley Park Alternative School. A pass Deaqunita
says her son received from an assistant principal just minutes after she spoke
with the principal of the school.
"I couldn't come get him because I
was out of town and he said that was fine, I didn't have to come get him," said
Joseph.
Imagine her surprise when she
received a call nearly five hours later that afternoon from a CATS bus driver
who told her that her son had been traveling on city buses all day.
"The city bus lady was so nervous
she was like do you know who you can call? Where are you going? He didn't know
anything, he didn't even know the name of the street we live on," said Joseph.
Joseph, who has only been in
Baton Rouge for three months, says she then called the principal back
immediately to find out why her son was placed on a city bus.
"He told me that my son was still
at school, that no one gave him permission to get on a bus. I said he has to be
on a city bus because I spoke to him," added Joseph.
It turns out Deaqunita's son was
indeed placed on a CATS bus. A scenario she says she never approved.
"Parental consent, they have to
give express consent before a child is put on a city bus," said east Baton
Rouge school Executive Director of Communications Susan Nelson.
Nelson admits the school was at
fault in this case and that the assistant principal who gave Deaqunita's son a
pass and put him on the bus should never have done so.
"This was clearly a mistake on
the part of the administrator that made the decision to send the student on a
city bus without parental consent and that's something the principal will be dealing
with as an administrative matter," added Nelson.
As for the matter of Deaqunita
not having numerous phone calls returned by school administrators or board
members, Nelson says that too was an error on the part of EBR schools.
"We look at parents in this
district as customers. We want to make sure they're taken care of and their
needs are met so the fact that she wasn't called back timely that is also a
concern and the superintendent will definitely address," said Nelson.
All part of an experience Joseph
hopes she doesn't have to go through ever again.
"I was panicking until I got him,
until I saw him getting off that bus," said Joseph.
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