ROANOKE, Va. — A Roanoke mother says what began as a routine afternoon pickup from kindergarten turned into a frightening search for her 5-year-old son after the child, who was supposed to be a car rider, was mistakenly placed on a school bus and dropped off at an apartment complex away from his school.

The incident happened Thursday, August 20, at Round Hill Elementary School in Roanoke.

The boy’s mother, Terry Mills, contacted us directly and provided a detailed account of what she says happened during dismissal. Mills said she personally takes her son to school and picks him up every day as a car rider.

She said Thursday was only her son’s second day attending Round Hill Elementary School.

According to Mills, she arrived at the school at approximately 2:40 p.m. and waited in the car-rider line as she normally would. When it became her turn for her son to be called outside, she said she waited another five to ten minutes but he never appeared. School staff then instructed her to pull her vehicle to the side so dismissal could continue for the other students, she said.

What initially appeared to be a short delay soon became much more concerning.

Mills said she remained parked for approximately another 20 to 30 minutes without her son being brought to the vehicle. Growing increasingly worried, she asked the child’s father to get out of the vehicle and find out what was causing the delay.

According to her account, a staff member then began checking buses for the child.

Mills said staff later returned and told the family that her son was not on a bus and indicated that he may have been inside the school using the restroom. The parents were then instructed to drive around to the school’s front office.

But when they reached the office, Mills said the situation became even more alarming.

She described seeing numerous staff members communicating with one another but said she and her husband were unable to get a definite answer about where their 5-year-old son was.

According to Mills, they were repeatedly told that the boy was either coming to the office or was somewhere inside the school, although she said staff could not actually locate him.

At one point, Mills said a man came outside and told her that the last known sighting of her son had been at approximately 2:54 p.m.

She said she had already been sitting in the car-rider line since approximately 2:40 p.m.

Mills described the period without knowing where her child was as terrifying.

She also expressed frustration that, according to her account, no administrator or principal came to her vehicle during the initial wait to explain what was happening.

Eventually, the school received a telephone call that provided the answer everyone had been looking for.

Her son was no longer at Round Hill Elementary.

He had been dropped off from a school bus at Westwind Apartments.

According to Mills, her son had never ridden a school bus before and was not supposed to be transported home by bus that afternoon.

She says she had registered and routinely treated him as a car rider.

Roanoke City Public Schools has confirmed the central circumstances of the incident.

In a statement from Claire Mitzel, Director of Communications & Public Relations for Roanoke City Public Schools, the school division said a kindergarten student at Round Hill Elementary mistakenly boarded a school bus on August 20 despite being a car rider.

According to RCPS, the particular bus had only one stop — Westwind Apartments.

The division said that after the child exited the bus, another student escorted him to the apartment complex leasing office.

RCPS said an assistant manager at the apartment complex realized that the kindergarten student was in the wrong location and contacted the school.

The school division said approximately 17 minutes elapsed between the time the child got off the bus and the time the apartment complex assistant manager contacted the school.

That 17-minute period specifically refers to the time after the child exited the bus and before the apartment office contacted Round Hill. Mills, meanwhile, describes a longer overall period beginning with her arrival in the car-rider line and continuing while school personnel attempted to determine where her child was.

RCPS said that once the school received the telephone call from Westwind Apartments, staff immediately notified the student’s parent, who was already at the school.

The parent then went to pick up the child.

According to the division, the family subsequently met with a school division leader to discuss what had occurred.

Mills provided a more emotional account of what she says her son experienced after getting off the bus. She said the 5-year-old was in a place he had never been before and did not recognize and that he was scared and crying. Mills says another child ultimately noticed him and helped him before apartment management became involved.

She questioned how a kindergarten student who was designated as a car rider was able to get onto the bus in the first place and why the mistake was not discovered before he was allowed to leave the bus at an unfamiliar location.

Mills also questioned whether the bus driver should have verified the child’s identity, stop and whether an appropriate adult was present before allowing him to get off.

RCPS’s publicly available transportation information provides additional context concerning young students and bus drop-offs.

The district’s transportation guidance states that when an authorized individual is required but is not present, the bus is to continue its route and the student is to be returned to the school. RCPS transportation information also specifically discusses circumstances involving preschool and kindergarten students who are returned because they were not met at their stops.

The exact circumstances surrounding how those procedures applied to Thursday’s incident have not been fully detailed publicly.

RCPS acknowledged that the mistake occurred and said both the school and school division have investigated.

The school system additionally said it is working with Zum, the transportation company involved in Roanoke City school transportation, following the incident.

RCPS said additional actions are being taken in partnership with Zum to ensure students, school staff and bus drivers follow bus and car-rider procedures.

Because of federal and state student privacy laws, RCPS said it could not provide additional identifying information about the child.

Mills, however, has chosen to speak publicly about what happened to her son.

She says the incident has shaken the family’s trust in both the school system and the transportation process and says her son is now frightened about returning to school.

“I’m so devastated,” Mills wrote while describing the experience.

She characterized what happened as a traumatic event for her child and said she believes RCPS and Zum Transportation failed to keep her son safe while he was in their care.

Mills also says she intends to explore possible legal action against those she believes were responsible, including potential claims against the school division and transportation provider.

Those are currently Mills’ stated intentions and allegations; no court has made a finding of negligence or legal liability in connection with the incident.

For its part, RCPS expressed appreciation to the employees of Westwind Apartments who recognized that something was wrong and intervened.

The school division said it was thankful the student was safe and thanked Westwind Apartments management staff for their diligence and support.

The incident ultimately ended with the 5-year-old safely reunited with his family, but Mills says the family is now looking for answers about how a child who was supposed to be waiting for his parents in the car-rider line instead ended up aboard a bus and was allowed to exit at an unfamiliar apartment complex.

RCPS says personnel actions are being taken and that additional steps are being implemented with Zum to reinforce school bus and car-rider procedures.

For Terry Mills and her family, however, the central question remains much simpler: How did a 5-year-old who was supposed to be picked up by his parents leave the school on a bus without anyone realizing he was in the wrong place until after he had already been dropped off?