School Sends 4-Year-Old Home On Bus In Underwear After Bathroom Accident

A mom is outraged after her son was sent home from school in his underwear

If a kid is going to ride the school bus, they should probably have pants on. That seems like common sense, but apparently it isn’t because a four-year-old Georgia boy was put on the bus in his underwear after he had a bathroom accident at school.

Janet Burgo’s son is in pre-K at Feldwood Elementary in College Park, Georgia. Recently, WSBTV reports the boy had an accident during dismissal and was somehow bussed to his day care with a sweatshirt tied around his waist and the back of his underwear completely showing. Burgo realized what happened once she picked up her distraught son at his day care center, and she’s livid that no one thought to call her before putting her son “on a bus in his underwear in 40-degree weather.”

Burgo admits she forgot to replace the extra clothes in her son’s backpack after his last accident, but said it’s inexcusable that anyone thought it appropriate to send her son home “humiliated” and “half-naked.” Says Burgo, “Every time I talk to him, he would get this sad look and say, ‘My teacher put me on the bus in my underwear.'”

The boy’s teacher resigned once WSBTV began investigating. The school’s principal, Raquel Harris, also left a voicemail for parents saying the boy was given the sweatshirt while staff looked for alternative clothing, but he was mistakenly put on his bus before extra clothing was found. Burgo thinks the teacher got off easy by not being fired, and says she doesn’t accept the principal’s excuse. “Teachers are mandated reporters,” she said. “How do you walk by a school of teachers and get on a bus in your underwear?”

Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time something like this has happened. In October, a six-year-old Florida girl was sent home on the bus wearing nothing but underwear and a t-shirt. You have to wonder, how does something this absurd happen twice, and what the hell are all of these people thinking?

Obviously teachers and other school staff aren’t magicians. They can’t conjure clean pants out of thin air, and it’s a hassle when parents don’t pack extra clothes. But, that’s why telephones exist. You don’t put a kid on a school bus in their underwear; you call a parent or guardian who can help. Even the busiest of parents can find a way to make sure their kid doesn’t have to walk around half naked in the cold.

This is a failure on every level, and unfortunately it’s the kid who pays the price. He’s the one who felt humiliated — not only for having an accident, but also for not having extra clothes and then being forced to ride home without pants. He’s the one that needed an adult’s help and was sadly left to wander around with a sweatshirt tied around his waist. If it was some kind of oversight, that’s a pretty damn big mistake, and you can hardly blame this mom for wanting to hold everyone involved accountable.