ORLANDO, Fla. — An Orlando father is demanding answers after he told Eyewitness News that his 3-year-old son was left in a daycare van by himself for about five hours.
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And to make matters worse, he claimed the facility checked the student off the drop off list, but never realized he remained in the vehicle.
“That’s scary. Imagine a call that I could have gotten instead? That is scary,” said Jovonta Williams, the father of the 3-year-old, who spoke exclusively with Channel 9.
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Williams said he was terrified on Monday when he learned when he learned his 3-year-old son was left alone in a daycare van at Apple Star Academy on Hastings Street, in Orlando.
“The school called and said it was an incident. So, I’m like, Okay, what’s going on? It’s my son,” said Williams.
The 3-year-old fell asleep in the van on the ride to school around seven in the morning. The dad received that call just before one in the afternoon.
“He was left on the bus for five hours, and you went through, you didn’t go through no protocol to make sure he was even in class?” Williams said. “You didn’t even take attendance in the class, but we signed the paper saying that he’s on the bus, and you signed him off of the bus, and you took his book bag off of the bus. How’s that possible?”
Apple Star Academy has two locations – one on Kirkman Road and another on North Hastings Street.
They take care of children as young as six weeks old.
Channel 9 learned DCF is now investigating this case. Channel 9 also reviewed the last three years of records and found both Apple Star Academy sites have been cited by DCF for violations a total of eight times - twice for not keeping proper transportation log records, twice for being out of compliance with the required child to staff ratio, and once because it didn’t have proper background records for an employee.
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“This could’ve ended so badly, it could have gone so many different ways,” said Williams. “It’s not just because it’s my son. It could have been anybody’s kid. That’s crazy!”
A spokesperson for Apple Star Academy sent WFTV the following statement:
“We are simply horrified about the incident that happened Monday morning and so thankful that the child appears to have been unharmed. We’re currently reviewing all of our procedures to see how this happened to ensure it never happens again. After this happened, we reported it immediately to the Department of Children and Family Services and we have no further information or comments to provide while their process is ongoing.”
— Alan Byrd, spokesman, Apple Star Academy
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