I think being one minute late isn't enough to initiate shunning against a small kid or laying judgment on what a horrible mother he has.
The article alludes to alleged past problems with the vehicle, which indicates to me that this child may have been late for school more often than just this one time. I do agree that this child is very young and thus, not responsible for his tardiness. If this was a recurring problem, the school should have dealt with the mother.
As usual, the news story in question omits certain potentially important facts. There appears to be more to the story than punishment of a child for being one minute late one time.
The child ha been tardy six times since the beginning of the Year. The School has established a rule, made the consequences of violating the rule known and enforced the rule on an even handed basis. Where did the school go wrong.
I realize that I have referred to information not in this report, but I have read 4 different articles on this situation and some of them provided more details.