FITZGERALD, Ga. (WALB) - The parents of a 5-year-old boy with autism say they’re still searching for answers after their son was not on his school bus on Aug. 18, an incident the family says left him scared and shaken. Ben Hill County Schools Superintendent Shane Miller says the child was never left unattended at Ben Hill Primary.

Z’chuntania Harris, the boy’s mother, said she learned something was wrong when the bus assistant called to ask whether she had checked her son, Zion, out of school that day.

“I kept saying, ‘Where is Zion, where is Zion?’” Harris said.

Harris said her mother, Sundra Wilcox, called the school after learning what happened.

“My daughter come calling me, frantic, about my grandson,” Wilcox said. “I told her that I was fixing to contact the school myself.”

Family says answers were inconsistent

Wilcox said she called the school’s front desk and was told staff had walked students to the bus. She said she asked to speak with a teacher or the principal but was told everyone was at “their designated station” and unavailable.

Harris said she went to the school in person the next day and spoke with the assistant principal, who she said told her Zion had been in the classroom with his teacher the entire time.

Harris said she later called the bus assistant directly for an explanation. According to Harris, the bus assistant said that during bus calls, she noticed Zion was not in his assigned seat and called Harris to check on him. Harris said the bus assistant told her all the special education teachers had already walked away from the buses by that point.

Harris also said she contacted the Ben Hill County Board of Education, which transferred her to the bus yard. Harris said a bus yard employee told her she heard staff repeatedly calling for the student over the radio and heard that the bus turned around to retrieve him.

Zion, who is nonverbal, told his parents “yeah” when they asked if he had been lost at school, according to Harris and Tyrese Roundtree, the boy’s father.

Family requested to view school cameras

Harris said she asked school administrators multiple times to view classroom camera footage to confirm her son had been in the classroom, and said staff changed the subject or told her he was “in good hands” without showing footage.

Roundtree said Zion was reluctant to enter the school building the next day, stopping at two separate doors before walking in. Roundtree said Zion asked to be picked up by his father and would not calm down until he did so.

“For my son to feel like that, I’m like, Bug, let’s go,” Roundtree said, using his nickname for his son. “At this point, I’m getting mad now.”

Roundtree said he asked Zion at home whether anyone at school had been mean to him, and Zion responded “yeah.”

The family said Zion’s behavior changed following the incident, including increased tantrums and being startled when his name was called. They said he did not exhibit the same behavior on a day they kept him home from school.

Superintendent says student was never unaccounted for

Superintendent Shane Miller, who began the role July 1, said he was notified Wednesday morning, Aug. 19, that a bus had to circle back to the school after a student was not accounted for.

Miller said his investigation found that Zion, who rides an alternate bus route, remained in his classroom with two adults the entire time. Miller said a paraprofessional had gone to the front of the school, where the bus typically picks up students, and the bus had already pulled out.

Miller said the bus monitor, following standard protocol, texted the boy’s mother about two minutes after the bus left to confirm whether the student was at school. Miller said the school’s administrator on the bus ramp did not have time to radio the bus before it returned to the parking lot, and said the entire incident lasted five to seven minutes.

“The student was never left unattended,” Miller said. “All of our students are walked to the bus by adults. They’re never left unattended.”

Miller said he was not aware of a specific reason the family was told they could not view camera footage and said he does not believe it would be an issue for the mother to see it.

“We certainly want to make sure that everybody’s telling the truth,” Miller said. “That’s not an issue. I mean, it’s a non-issue.”

District cites recent building changes

Miller said Ben Hill County Schools merged its pre-K, primary and elementary facilities over the summer under the previous superintendent and Board of Education, citing declining enrollment. The pre-K center closed and merged with the primary school, and the primary and elementary schools swapped locations, according to Miller.

Miller said the changes, combined with a new roundabout near the school, required the district to adjust dismissal times three or four times. He said the district has since resolved traffic issues at car rider pickup and drop-off.

Miller said the district is adding new scanners at one school on a pilot basis and reviewing new transportation software that would allow parents to track their child’s location. He said safety protocols are reviewed on an ongoing basis.

“Safety will be a top priority in Ben Hill schools,” Miller said.

Miller said he has an open-door policy for parents.

“I believe that parents do have a voice in their students’ education,” Miller said.

The Harris family said they hope no other family experiences not knowing where their child is.

Have a news tip or see an error that needs correction? Let us know. Please include the article’s headline in your message.

To stay up to date on all the latest news as it develops, follow WALB on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, and X. For more south Georgia news, download the WALB News app and add WALB as a preferred source on Google.

Copyright 2026 WALB. All rights reserved.