LEESBURG, Fla. — A Leesburg mother said she is thankful her 5-year-old son is safe after the boy mistakenly ended up on a school bus.
School officials said a mix-up last week left the kindergartner on a bus he shouldn't have been on.
Amanda Goudy said her son was dropped off and crossed a busy street.
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A good Samaritan eventually called police and helped reunited the child with his family.
"My whole world froze when I couldn't find my kid," Goudy said.
Goudy said she was horrified Thursday when she showed up to Leesburg Elementary School to pick up her son and he was nowhere to be found.
"Normally, he is a car rider," Goudy said.
She needed to pick him up early for a doctor's appointment and explained to school staff that he needed to be a walker.
"I can meet him, grab him and go," Goudy said. "My son never showed up at the walkers' gate."
She said that, after several minutes of waiting, she started to panic and then she and school staff started looking everywhere for him.
"It wasn't until an hour and a half after school was let out that they found my son walking down [Sate Road] 44," Goudy said.
Officials said fifth-grade safety patrol students were supposed to walk the child to the walkers' gate, but instead, on the way, he ended up with the bus riders and got on a bus.
At the first stop at 9th and Magnolia streets, while the bus driver was dealing with a child who had left something on the bus, the 5-year-old got off the bus.
"He could have gotten hit. He could have gotten picked up," Goudy said.
She said she wants changes put into place so something like this won't ever happen again.
As a result of what happened, the district said school staff has double-checked tags on kids' backpacks indicating how they get home and officials have reminded bus drivers to check, as well.
Adults, not safety patrol students, will now walk kindergarten students to their dismissal areas, the school said.
The school also said it is going to stagger dismissal times, allowing a few extra minutes between when walkers are dismissed and bus riders are dismissed.
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