Lee school bus driver leaves 5-year-old alone at gas station

FORT MYERS, Fla.- A school bus driver is no longer working for the Lee County School District after leaving a 5-year-old alone at a gas station after school.

“Today, I am angry. I cried all the tears I could cry yesterday,” said Leela Federick, 5-year-old CJ’s mother.

It’s been an emotional 24 hours for Federick who says on Thursday, her son was supposed to go from Ray V. Pottorf Elementary School to Challenged Minds Learning Center but never made it there.

“My mom asked him ‘how was school today?’ He said, ‘not good Grandma. The bus dropped me off at the store and I was by myself.'”

Federick says the bus driver dropped her son off at a Shell gas station along U.S. 41 and Hill Drive and drove away, even though she says her son had paperwork showing his approved drop off location.

“This was you telling my child who is 5 years old, who makes no decisions in life at this moment, that he has to get off this bus and stand by himself,” Federick said.

She adds the owner of Challenged Minds got in her car and went driving down U.S. 41, looking for CJ when he didn’t show up with the other kids.

“You drive away, looking in the rear view mirror at my son, standing there alone at 5 years old with a backpack and you have a clean conscience on that?”

The Lee County School District tells WINK News the safety of students is their highest priority.

“We contacted the family of the student immediately upon hearing about the incident, made sure the child was safe, and as of this morning that driver is no longer an employee of the district,” the district said in a statement.

“You can’t go and fire somebody and think everything is going to be okay,” Federick said, adding many of her questions have been left unanswered.