ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — This wasn’t just any other morning for Alicia Goad’s daughter, Mikayla.
"Tomorrow's her last day at school before she goes to a different school, so she was having her own little special education going away party," Goad said.
It was supposed to be her very own day to say goodbye to friends and teachers at Walnut Hills Elementary within the Cherry Creek School District.
"She's probably been through more in her eight years of life than the three of us combined," Goad said.
Mikayla suffers from epilepsy, kidney disease and learning disabilities. Still, none of that is a match for her desire to go to school.
"She's the most amazing little girl you could ever meet," Goad said.
It makes what happened Thursday morning an unnecessary burden.
"We're sitting over there on the wall. I saw the bus coming, cresting the hill, so we got up, we walked over here. The bus driver didn't stop, made complete eye contact with me. When I kind of went like, stop, she got to about right there, tapped the brakes and just kept on going," Goad said.
Stunned, Goad started making calls to the Cherry Creek School District bus dispatch.
"Was that her that just drove past me? 'Oh, no, she's two minutes away, two minutes away,'" Goad said, describing the conversation.
Several minutes later, the bus still hadn't come back. Goad, who because of medical issues can’t drive her daughter to school, tries calling again but to no avail.
"So, now I have a child who does not understand why she's not going to school sobbing because now she doesn't think she gets her party," Goad said.
After making one call to her school, her daughter’s teacher stepped in.
"I was crying, and she was like, 'I'm coming to get her right now. She's going to make her party.' And about 10 minutes later, her teacher did show up," Goad said.
In a statement, the CCSD said, “there was a substitute driving the route today and the driver accidentally missed the stop. When the mother called the dispatch office, transportation officials apologized and sent another bus to pick up the student. Rhe mother told us that she would take her child to school. We are reviewing the incident to ensure it does not happen again.”
Goad says when the other bus came back for her daughter, it was after her teacher had already picked her up.
It was a tough experience for any child to go through, especially one wanting to make the most of every day.