(KTRK/CNN) - Charlie Dahu could not believe his 7-year-old daughter, Rosabella, was able to use a note she wrote to hop on the school bus Monday home from Sheldon Elementary in Texas instead of staying in the afterschool program.
"Basically a second-grader tricked the school system and was able to go home on this note," he said. "You can clearly see she did not even spell the word bus, right?"
The note also had no signature and questionable handwriting.
Dahu didn't realize his daughter was in front of their home, alone for the afternoon, until a concerned neighbor called him.
"She came to ask my wife to use the restroom and that's when I figured there's something wrong." neighbor Rolando Lozano said.
The little girl couldn't find a way inside her house. Lozano's family took her in and waited for dad.
"I was shaking," Dahu said. "I was scared. I was just glad to see her in good health and that nothing happened to her."
He took his concerns straight to the after-school program, recording his interaction with the adults in charge on his cell phone. They gave him the fake note. One employee admitted the note looked suspicious.
"Now, does this look like a note - does this look like a note that a parent would write?" Dahu said.
"No, that's why I asked my boss," the employee said.
Despite questions about the note, Rosabella was still allowed to leave on the bus.
"I would have preferred someone give me a call and say, 'Did you write a note for your daughter to come home today?'" he said.
Sheldon Independent School District released a statement, saying in part, "We are reviewing our training procedures to ensure that our afterschool grant program staff is properly trained in dismissal procedures. As we move forward, the district is working to make sure that all of our afterschool grant staff receives the same training as district employees."
Dahu knows his daughter lied, but hopes the district also learned a lesson.
"I understand, maybe my daughter was in the wrong for writing the note in the first place, but they're adults," he said.
School officials say that despite this incident, they do take student safety seriously.
Courtesy: KTRK and CNN Newsource
