'I felt betrayed.' 6-year-old left behind on field trip to park by Cary daycare

Jessica Button said she's lost all trust with the KinderCare Learning Center on Kilymane Drive staff. Her son, Lucas, was supposed to board a bus on Wednesday at Jack Smith Park.

Instead, Lucas saw buses pulling away as he came out the bathroom.

"He was crying and he was scared," said Button.

Button said anything could have happened knowing her son was alone for 10 minutes.

"They come out [to Jack Smith Park] quite frequently at KinderCare," she said.

The park is a fun spot for Lucas to let out all of his energy. But the trip turned scary on Wednesday.

"I was in the bathroom and the bus just left without me," said Lucas.

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Scared and alone, a woman working at the park checked on Lucas to make sure he was okay.

"I couldn't even talk to the person when they called me," said Button. "I panicked, left and told my workers I had to go."

"He had no cellphone. He couldn't contact anyone. I'm just glad there are good people in this world still that help him to make sure he was OK."

Button said she was in shock after receiving a phone call about what happened.

"I felt betrayed, and I felt like I lost my trust with them," she said. "I don't know if I'll ever have that trust with another facility, unfortunately, and it's upsetting."

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A spokesperson for KinderCare responded to the situation with the following statement:

"This incident is not reflective of KinderCare’s values or the experiences. We work hard to provide for our families every day and should have never happened. In fact, we have specific protocols in place to ensure our teachers are always aware of students’ whereabouts. As a result, the teachers involved in this incident are no longer KinderCare employees."

With children’s lives in the hands of trusted adults, Button said KinderCare employees should pay more attention.

"It was very hurtful, and I don't want another child to go missing," said Button.

Lucas is no longer enrolled at KinderCare because of the incident.

A KinderCare spokesperson says staff will be retrained on policies following the incident.

Button said her grandmother will be watching Lucas while she searches for other programs before school starts.