New Jersey Mother Furious After 5-Year-Old Left At Wrong Bus Stop Multiple Times

NEW JERSEY (CBSNewYork) -- A Somerset, N.J. mother is furious after she says her daughter was dropped off at the wrong stop and then put on the wrong bus all in the same week.

As CBS 2's Hazel Sanchez reported, Melissa Clayton's 5-year-old daughter, Mia Autrey, was left outside their apartment building with no one to pick her up when she was supposed to be taken to an after school program last Thursday.

Clayton said she feared the worst.

"Panic, panic," she said. "I was scared to death."

Clayton said this wasn't the first time Mia was left outside their building instead of being taken to the after school program. She claims the Trans Ed bus company made the same mistake with Mia on her first day of school in September.

"The bus driver did come back and say, 'I'm sorry, I'm sorry, she was sleeping.' And I said, 'Well, that's when you're supposed to pay closer attention to make sure she got off the right spot,'" Clayton said.

Thankfully, a neighbor spotted Mia and took her in from the cold, Sanchez reported.

Trans Ed told CBS 2 it is looking into the incident, but wouldn't comment further.

Clayton said the school's superintendent said it wouldn't happen again.

"Thursday night the principal called me and said 'oh I apologize what happened with transportation we're going to handle that,'" Clayton said.

So it was easy to imagine Clayton's shock when a teacher at Elizabeth Avenue Elementary School put Mia on the wrong bus all together on Friday.

"They apologized, but you know, it's kind of hard to accept their apology when it's your kid," Clayton said.

Clayton said she feels a little less stress now that the school district transferred her to Hillcrest Elementary, where her after school program is located.

CBS 2 reached out to Franklin Township School District for comment. Officials did not return any calls.

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