KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A six-year-old girl suffered a concussion on her school bus ride home last Friday afternoon. The parents of Aliah Bilberry are upset that the bus driver didn’t call them, the girl’s school or Apple Bus company dispatch after the incident.
“No father should ever experience his daughter coming home with a bloody face,” said Kevin Bilberry.
“How could someone neglect a child and leave her riding on the bus, possibly unconscious with an open head wound? How do you not tend to my child?” asked Bilberry’s wife, Enishika.
The couple said that Aliah, a kindergartner at University Academy charter school, fell asleep on the bus ride home. They say at some point the driver hit the brakes and Aliah fell forward, hitting her head on a metal bar behind the bus driver.
The couple’s 13-year-old daughter was also on the bus. The teen told her parents that the bus driver offered her younger sister a paper towel to wipe the blood from her head, but did nothing more to make sure the six-year-old was okay.
When the driver reached the Bilberry’s stop, the parents say their 13-year-old daughter carried her little sister home in her arms.
“I can’t fathom and understand why she completed the bus route? Our children are almost the last stop,” said Enishika Bilberry.
The Bilberry’s rushed their daughter to Children’s Mercy Hospital because she was so incoherent, she didn’t recognize her own parents.
“She asked if I was her mom, she said, ‘Are you my mom?’ I don’t ever want to see my child like that again.” said Enishika Bilberry.
FOX 4 has reviewed the hospital paperwork, which confirms Aliah suffered a concussion and may have lost consciousness for up to 30 minutes.
Tony Kline is the superintendent for University Academy. He said the school didn’t even know about the incident until Monday morning when the Bilberry’s showed up to share their concerns.
“We’re going to take this very seriously, get down to the bottom of it and do what needs to be done,” said Kline.
Just two hours after Kline spoke to FOX 4 on-camera, he called us to say surveillance video from the bus confirmed the child’s injury and the driver’s lack of action. He told FOX 4 the driver “could’ve and should’ve done more.”
Kline went on to say that while University Academy can’t force Apple Bus company to fire the driver, but he’s told Apple Bus that the driver has been banned from transporting students for University Academy.
When FOX 4 reached out to the Apple Bus company, a supervisor confirmed Aliah fell asleep on the bus and injured herself, but refused to say what, if any, action the company might take against the driver.
When FOX 4 pressed to know if the driver had been fired, the company spokeswoman said, “No comment” and hung up.
Aliah’s father isn’t satisfied and says Apple Bus company still hasn’t called him to explain the actions of its driver.
“I want an apology first and I want to hear that something is going to be done. People cannot expect to neglect children or any child in their care and not expect for consequences to happen,” said Kevin Bilberry.
Aliah’s parents drove her to school on Monday and say she appears to be doing better, but they’ve made a follow-up appointment with their pediatrician to be sure.
Email: rob.low@wdaftv4.com
Twitter: @RobLowTV