LACEY, Wash. — A substitute school bus driver resigned last month after admitting to not completing a check of his bus after a route, which resulted in a kindergartner with special needs being left alone on the bus for seven hours, KOMO 4 News reports.
After being picked up by a North Thurston School District bus at Lydia Hawk Elementary, the 6-year-old boy was supposed to be dropped off at a local day care center, but he never arrived, according to the news outlet. The driver instead returned the bus to the district's transportation yard, where he parked the bus for the night.
After the boy’s foster mother called 911 to report the child missing, deputies searched the district's bus yard, according to KOMO 4 News. Just before 11 p.m., they found the boy sleeping on a seat in the bus. He had been inside the vehicle for more than seven hours. Courtney Shrieve, a spokesperson for the district, told the news outlet the child is OK.
District officials immediately owned up to the bus driver's mistake, according to KOMO 4 News, and will work to ensure all bus drivers know exactly what is expected of them.
To read the full story, click here.
Special-needs kindergartner left alone on bus for 7 hours
A driver for North Thurston School District in Lacey, Washington, resigned last month after admitting to not completing a check of his bus. The 6-year-old boy was supposed to be dropped off at a day care center, but was found later that evening asleep on the bus.
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