RICHMOND, Va. β Jamari Winston wakes up wanting to get on the bus and go to school every day.
The Miles Jones Elementary School first grader loves learning, but a transportation mix-up left the 6-year-old alone at his apartment complex without supervision.
"He loves school, he's smart," Jamari's mother Unique Freeman said.
While Jamari typically rides the bus to school, he often takes a van to daycare after school.
On Monday, October 6, Freeman said she had to pick up her younger son for a meeting but told school administration that Jamari would be going on the van to daycare after school.
Freeman was shocked when she got a call from a neighbor later in the day who said she had found Jamari outside their apartment complex.
"I called the school and everything they kept saying, 'I'm sorry, I am sorry,'" Freeman said.
Freeman said the school put her son on the bus instead of the van. Then she claimed the bus driver let Jamari off the bus without making sure a parent or guardian was there to pick him up.
Jamari's grandmother Nakia Hines, who said she used to drive school buses for Richmond Public Schools, called what happened unacceptable.
"Anything could have happened to my grandson, thank God it didn't, he was out here by himself, a first grader," Hines said.
RPS written procedures outline that children in pre-K through 2nd grade need to be left with a parent, family member, or designee at a bus stop.
"When a parent is not out there, they're supposed to take them back to school, they're not supposed to let them off the bus," Hines said.
Freeman said she was even more frustrated when, after she reported what happened, the same bus driver pulled up to pick up her son the very next morning.
"That was insane to me," Freeman said.
That's why she reached out to CBS 6.
"You came right to me," she said. "You responded faster than they can."
CBS 6 contacted Richmond Schools to ask what happened. A spokesperson said last week a new driver on the route for the first time unintentionally handed a child off to a neighbor rather than a parent at a stop for 50+ families.
The spokesperson added that once RPS realized the error, they spoke with the parent to apologize and ensure that the child was safe.
CBS 6 talked to the neighbor who found Jamari, and she claimed the driver did not hand him to her.
"You were just heading out your door and happened to come across this child?" CBS 6 investigative reporter Melissa Hipolit asked.
"Yes ma'am," the neighbor replied.
"Nobody handed a kid to you?" Hipolit asked.
"No ma'am," the neighbor answered.
Now mom and grandma want to ensure this never happens to Jamari or any other child again.
"That's all we want to be safe on the bus, getting off the bus, make sure a parent out there at all times," Hines said.
"And not just for my child for everybody's child," Freeman added.
A Richmond Public Schools spokesperson said they reiterated standard practices and policies with the appropriate staff both for getting children on the right bus and for hand-off procedures.
This is a developing story. Email the CBS 6 Newsroom if you have additional information to share.
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