School drops child off at wrong house

MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) - A mother in mobile is speaking out after her daughter was dropped off at the wrong place by her school bus. Her 5-year-old daughter Alexia was missing for hours before anyone found her.

Nicholson describes it as the scariest two hours of her life.

"What if I never would have seen my child again? That’s an experience that I never want to experience again. Nobody, no mother, no father should ever have to go through that. I felt helpless. I felt like she needed me, and I couldn’t be there for her,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson's cousin was supposed to pick up the kindergartener from E.R. Dickson Elementary School, but when she got there the child was gone.

"The school couldn’t find her. They couldn’t tell her where she was at,” Nicholson said.

 Nicholson said her cousin got a number of stories of where Alexia might be.

“They said she had left with an unfamiliar man; she had gotten taken off the bus to Twin Oaks; she had gotten on the orange bus, everywhere but where she had got taken," Nicholson said.

Alexia was found at Warren Village Apartments. Nicholson was told the school put her on the bus to the location even though Alexia said she was to ride carpool.

“She should have taken herself out of teacher mode and put herself in mother mode. She should have said, ‘This child is telling me that I’m not supposed to get on this bus, I’m going to carpool.’ So she could have taken it upon herself to say, ‘I’ll call Mrs. Nicholson or a relative to find out what’s going on,’” Nicholson said.

Before Monday, this was correct but Nicholson personally went into the school and told them from now on Alexia will be picked up from school.

That's what happened Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday; but not Thursday.

A spokesperson with Mobile County Public Schools said this is because Nicholson didn't fill out a form confirming the change.

 Nicholson said she wasn't aware she had to fill out any forms.

"She should have said, ‘Mrs. Nicholson, it’s been told that Alexia is being carpooled. Could you please write a note from home saying that so that we could confirm?' But, nobody did that. Everybody saying I should have seen it in the policy book; people forget things,” Nicholson said.

A parent at the apartment complex found Alexia and noticed she was alone.

“Luckily, I raised a smart child. She remembered her phone number, and she gave the lady her number to where she could reach me and tell me where she was,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson said she lucky, but worries about the next time.

"You have to be careful on things like that. Pay close attention. I know you really want to go home, but you have to pay attention. These are kids, these are parents who want to see their kids again, and that’s selfish to take that from them,” Nicholson said.

A spokesperson said having a note signed is a safety precaution, and parents should read and refer to the handbook often.