PA: Child Left on School Bus

Note: The school district says that bus drivers are not school employees, and takes the position it's the bus company's responsibility to deal with its employees. Seems like the district is trying to deny it has the ultimate responsibility for the safety of children in their district while those children are in the care of the district - including while those children are riding a school bus, contracted or otherwise...

Posted: Jan 23, 2009 07:30 PM
Last Updated: Jan 23, 2009 10:15 PM
By Kurt Aaron

http://www.wnep.com/Global/story.asp?S=9725127

A school bus driver in Northumberland County was suspended for one day after a child was left behind on a school bus.

Parents of the six-year-old boy said the incident happened Wednesday morning. They said their son was left alone for two hours on a bus used by the Mount Carmel Area School District.

"What's a six-year-old thinking, being left there all alone," said the boy's father, Ron Price. "My God, no one is there to stick up for him or help him or anything. It's just horrible. I just thank God nothing happened. Maybe the next kid won't be so lucky."

The boy apparently never got off the bus when it stopped at his school. He ended up three miles away where the buses are parked. Ron Price said his son was left alone for two hours before anyone noticed him.

"They said they seen a little boy wandering around in the parking lot," Price said. "He told me he learned how to open the door by watching the school bus driver do it. So, he got out and was roaming around."

What upset the child's mother and father so much is that there is a busy highway near where the buses are parked. There's also a stream right behind the buses.

Bob Heraty has been a school bus driver for 37 years. He said all the buses used in the Mount Carmel Area School District have a security feature for situations like this. When the bus is shut off, the driver has 40 seconds to walk to the back of the bus and press a special button or pull a special lever. This safety feature is intended to ensure that the driver walks to the back of the bus to make sure that no kids are left on board.

It's not clear why the driver on Wednesday did not notice the six-year-old boy left on the bus.

The school district says the bus drivers are not school employees, and it's the bus company's responsibility to deal with its employees.