Donna – A Donna mother says a school bus mishap led to her 7-year-old daughter having to walk home alone.

Maria Galvan says one thing is on her mind at all times, "making sure that your child is not in danger."

Galvan tells us her daughter rides the school bus home from Truman Price Elementary in Donna.

She says every day her father waits under a tree near the stop to walk her daughter home.

On Tuesday, her daughter missed her stop.

The girl’s grandpa assumed she was picked up from school and walked home.

When the bus returned, Galvan explains, "My daughter acknowledged the bus driver, 'ma'am my grandpa's not there.'"

Galvan said the bus driver told her daughter she had to walk home.

"Since the moment she got off the bus, to the minute she got home my child was in a danger zone," Galvan told CHANNEL 5 NEWS.

She says the walk home is filled with stray dogs, strangers and fast-moving vehicles.

This isn't the first time her daughter has missed her stop.

"(He) took her back to campus. He called me. He called my husband and let us know that my child was needing to be picked up," she explains.

Galvan wants to know why the new driver didn't do the same.

CHANNEL 5 NEWS met with Donna Independent School District Transportation Director Luis Solis.

"The kindergarten and the pre-k are the two students that we definitely do not let walk on their own," Solis told us.

Solis explained first-grade students are left to the discretion of the bus driver.

He says student safety is the district's number one concern. He offers advice to parents.

"It's important to have some interaction with your bus driver. Get them to see who you are. Get them to know who you are, that way we have a much better communication between district employees and parents," Solis explains.

Galvan says for now her daughter won't be riding the bus.

Solis adds beginning next year, Donna ISD bus drivers will begin introducing themselves to parents at every stop.

He hopes the new policy will create a safer environment for everyone.