COPPERAS COVE, TX — “As a mother that’s one of your worst nightmares to say something happened to my baby,” said Gabrielle Locken.
Locken is fearing for her daughter’s safety after learning the 6-year-old, who she thought was at school at Clements/Parsons Elementary, was left on a bus for hours.
“I was nervous and scared,” said 6-year-old Kennedy Locken.
Kennedy says she got on the bus Tuesday morning and fell as sleep. When she woke up, she found herself in the middle of a Copperas Cove ISD Transportation bus lot.
Kennedy says she banged on the window to try to get someone’s attention to let her off the bus.
“Some people just looked at me, I looked back. Some people were just talking and ignoring me,” Kennedy recalled.
She eventually opened the emergency exit and walked inside the building where CCISD staff found her. Her mother says staff notified her that Kennedy was at their Transportation office at 12:45 p.m.
Locken says two years ago, one of her son’s was also left on a bus.
Locken claims the bus driver didn’t scan her daughter’s ID card to make sure she got off the bus. She also says Kennedy's teacher did not notify her that the 6-year-old was absent.
“I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else’s children. It was so scary. I can’t even imagine if something would’ve happened to her,” said Locken.
It’s why she says there needs to be a change. Locken says she is considering taking legal action against the district.
Copperas Cove ISD released the following statement.
“CCISD bus drivers are the first contact for many of our students in the morning and the last in the evening. Our bus drivers transport more than 5,700 students daily, driving more than 165 routes every day. Drivers receive required training to ensure the safety of students including mandatory checks to see if students are still on the bus. CCISD is investigating the alleged incident and will take appropriate administrative action based on the findings.”
