4-year-old left in cold after being dropped off by school bus on South Side, CPS parent says

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A concerned Chicago Public Schools parent says her 4-year-old son, who lives with autism, was left out in the cold when he was dropped off after school by a school bus driver.

The mother is demanding answers, wanting to know how this happened.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

Four-year-old Choice Sykes was all smiles hours after his mother, Rashia Pickett, says he was left out in winter's grip for about 45 minutes.

"From my understanding is, if someone is not at home, they are supposed to take them back to the school," Pickett said.

Usually, Pickett says her son, a pre-kindergartener at James Thorp Elementary, is dropped off by the school bus right outside their home near 91st and Burley in the South Chicago neighborhood.

"There's a bus aide that lets him out, walks him to the door," Pickett said. "I greet her. It's a normal routine for us."

But on Wednesday, his mother says plans were changed.

"I knew I was going to be a little late picking him up from school, so I called the school about 1 o'clock, 1:18 to be exact, let them know do not put him in the bus and that I will have my eighth grader walk him home," Pickett said. "When he got there to his class, they said he was already on the bus... I get a call from my neighbor, letting me know that my son is outside hysterically crying."

Pickett says she rushed home and found her son unharmed in their hallway after her neighbor let him in to get warm.

"Entrusting someone with your child is already hard," Pickett said. "Entrusting them with your disabled child, special needs child, is even more harder. And that trust has been violated, today."

ABC7 has reached to Chicago Public Schools to learn the protocol when a parent isn't at home during drop-off. ABC7 also reached out to the bus company for comment but have yet to hear back.