FAYETTEVILLE – The parents of a Fayette County kindergarten student have sued the county Board of Education and three school employees, alleging their child was put on the wrong bus and left alone in Montgomery after the school failed to follow repeated transportation instructions.
Megan Smith and Hunter Smith, parents of a child identified only as W.S., filed the complaint September 1 in Fayette Circuit Court. The suit names bus driver Paul Edwards, Valley PK-8 Principal Chastity Smith, kindergarten teacher Angela Hager and the school board as defendants.
The complaint alleges the parents had clearly instructed Valley PK-8 that W.S. was to be picked up from school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, the child was authorized to ride a bus to Megan Smith’s workplace in Montgomery, according to the filing.
The parents say Megan Smith completed transportation paperwork at school orientation before the start of the 2026-27 school year. The filing says Hager later asked whether W.S. would ride the “Dixie” bus, but Smith had not authorized the child to ride that bus.
On August 14, Smith provided another written explanation of the child’s schedule, according to the complaint. Hager replied, “thank you, just wanted to clarify,” the lawsuit says. Despite the instructions, the child was issued a Dixie bus tag, the complaint alleges.
Smith again notified the school in writing and by telephone on August 24 that W.S. was authorized to ride the bus only on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and that the child’s bus tag needed to be corrected, the suit says.
The following day, a Tuesday, Smith went to Valley PK-8 to pick up W.S. but was unable to find the child after school, according to the complaint. The child’s name was called for about five minutes, and Smith was told to wait while school personnel looked for the student, the filing says.
Hager then told Smith that W.S. had been put on a school bus after the school office conveyed that the child was supposed to ride, according to the complaint.
Smith told Hager that her workplace was closed and no one would be present to receive the child, the suit says. Hager allegedly assured Smith that the child was safe, that the driver would not leave the child at an unattended location and that W.S. would be returned to the school.
But at about 2:50 p.m., Smith received a call from an unknown Montgomery number. A woman told her she had found W.S. alone in town after noticing there was no adult with the child, according to the complaint.
The lawsuit alleges the child was separated from the parent, transported to an unauthorized location and left in public without adult supervision. It says the incident caused W.S. fear, emotional distress, anxiety and trauma.
The complaint alleges negligent hiring, negligent supervision, negligent retention, negligence, negligent infliction of emotional distress and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It contends the board failed to properly train, screen, supervise and monitor Edwards, Smith and Hager.
The parents seek compensatory damages for past and future psychological injuries, pain and suffering, emotional and mental anguish, loss of enjoyment of life and other damages. They also seek punitive damages, attorney fees, court costs and interest.
The plaintiffs are being represented by Michael Cary of Cary Law Office in Charleston. The case has been assigned to Circuit Judge Sam Fox II.
Fayette Circuit Court case number 26-C-134
