Pre-kindergartner dropped off and left alone at Aldine ISD school 13 minutes before opening

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Texas Health and Human Services are investigating a Greenspoint-area day care after a bus driver is accused of leaving a 4-year-old at his elementary school alone.

"That's my child's life, his safety," Melissa Luna, the little boy's mother, said.

The single mom, who works full-time, says she's been using La Petite Academy near Greenspoint Mall for the entire school year, relying on them to get her son to pre-kindergarten at Aldine ISD.

But Wednesday, she says she was alarmed to learn the day care bus driver failed to follow the elementary school's protocol and dropped her son off 13 minutes before the school even opened.

"There was another school bus parked there and another day care van parked. She passed them up. She had to wait behind that van, in line to wait to drop off the kids at 7:35 (a.m.), when the staff comes out to receive these kids. And she didn't do that," Luna said.

Aldine ISD shared the school's surveillance video, which shows the daycare driver drop the 4-year-old off and drive away as he searches for a way to get into the building.

"It's not even at the front. It's on the side of the school where there isn't anybody. And you can see him trying to open the door and it was locked," she said.

Her son, she says, was thankfully found by staff members who arrived early and saw him alone.

Eyewitness News reached out to La Petite Academy, who referred us to a corporate company called Learning Care Group, who said in an email:

"We take the safety and wellbeing of the children in our care very seriously. We are actively working to investigate the situation and to ensure our safety protocols are consistently followed."

Luna says thinking about all the "what if" scenarios keep racking through her mind.

"What if somebody would have just grabbed him and took him?" she said. "Just so many things could have happened."

Luna is now looking for a new day care after filing a complaint with Texas Health and Human Services, which regulates child care centers.

SEE ALSO: Child unharmed after being left on day care bus in Pearland after drop-off time, police say

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