Indy woman says school unable to locate daughter for day care pick up
PIKE TOWNSHIP, Ind. (WISH) — An Indianapolis woman said she is furious after receiving a phone call from school asking if her six-year-old daughter got off the bus.
It happened Wednesday at Eastbrook Elementary in Pike Township.
Brittany Blackwell told 24-Hour News 8 she does not understand how this could happen. Her daughter was supposed to go to day care. But when transportation came to pick her up after school she said no one could find her.
“They said they were sorry but nothing could compare to the feeling I felt being told to walk around the neighborhood to find my daughter when I left her in their care,” she said.
Blackwell described the experience as terrifying. She said school officials called letting her know they could not find her daughter for day care pick up.
“She calls me back and asked me like, Mrs. Blackwell are you able to walk around the neighborhood to see your daughter because we can’t find her,” she said. “I’m like, at that point the room start spinning, like I said can I do what?”
Blackwell said she went into panic mode and began to search the neighborhood.
“I drove maybe ten minutes looking for her and called the school back have you guys find her yet have you guys heard anything,” she said. “They said no we’re still trying to contact the buses.”
Blackwell rushed over to the elementary school and waited as school officials attempted to locate her daughter.
She said about an hour and a half had passed before she received confirmation that her daughter was already at day care.
“There’s no explanation to why nobody seen a child leave the school. There’s none and it’s during school hours there’s no explanation,” she said.
Blackwell’s daughter told her the bus driver picked her up from the front office.
“How did someone come into the front office of the school and just take a child and no one seen anything, like what if she was really gone,” she said. “I would have no answers for my daughter.”
Blackwell said administrators reached out to apologize for what happened. But for her, that’s simply not enough.
“All they can do is apologize that’s all they did I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry they can’t tell me why it happened,” she said.
A spokesperson for Pike Township told 24-Hour News 8 on the phone this was a misunderstanding. The township issued a statement saying in part, it will continue to work with Blackwell directly to address her concerns.