Driver, monitor resign after special-needs student left on school bus

CRESTWOOD, Ky. — A school bus driver and monitor resigned last month after an incident in which a special-needs preschooler was left unattended on a bus for several hours, The Courier-Journal reports.

The child’s father told police that the special-needs bus picked up the child at about 10:40 a.m., but the child wasn’t at school to be picked up shortly after 2 p.m. The child was found at the district’s bus depot at about 2:30 p.m., still seated in the bus. A district spokesperson told the newspaper that the child was taken to a hospital by the parents and was in good health a couple of days after the incident.  

The driver, Gregory Clickner, and the monitor, Sharon Machi, resigned two days after the incident.

Oldham County Schools Superintendent Dr. Will Wells told The Courier-Journal that the district’s child-check procedures were not followed on the day that the child was left on the bus.

WAVE 3 News reports that Oldham County Schools officials have changed the district’s policies to help ensure that no children are left unattended on school buses in the future.

In addition to drivers and monitors conducting a post-trip child check, preschool staff will now also check the school buses and contact parents any day that a student is unexpectedly absent.

Other news on students being left unattended on school buses:

• 2 children left on North Dakota school bus

• District changes procedures after 2 preschoolers left on buses