I hope this bus driver and assistant is fired!

[Mouse7088]

(Title should have read "are fired" not "is fired"...guess good grammar goes out the window when you get a little hot under the collar.)

I was just watching the 11 o'clock news (NBC) and they had a story that just made the tears start streaming.

A Grandmother put her 11 yro Grandson w/ Downs Syndrome on the special ed bus this morning for school. Apparently this child fell asleep and NO ONE, the bus driver nor assistant knew this until 4 hours later when they got back to the bus at the city garage for their afternoon bus route. They are required to check the bus before they leave it parked until their next route. No one from the school called the Grandmother or Mother either when Immanuel was absent from the classroom....so they didn't know anything until after Immanuel was found. I really do hope they lose their jobs, do I sound ruthless? YEPPERS and I don't care. I can't find the story on [Only registered and activated users can see links. Either login above or Register Now] just yet so I know there are specifics I am missing. The driver has had like 22 years of experience and the assistant has 12. I would bet this wasn't the first time both left the bus w/o checking for kids. All I keep thinking about is this little guy on the bus for four hours. What if he had to use the restroom or what have you, he HAD to be scared...unless he was sleeping the entire time. This was not too far from me and I have to tell ya, it's really cold. Ugh...I gotta stop thinking about the "what ifs" or else I'll have to go use our punching bag downstairs (basement) and I don't want to do that this laite..it's a scary place after sunset. Yipes. Oh yeah, Immanuel's Granny was telling the reporter how much he loved school, like all weekend he will ask Bus? School? It's just so sad to think about it all. Thank God he wasn't physically hurt...who knows what this has done to him in other ways tho. Poor little dude.


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[jskarp]

Paula, I could tell you real horror stories about sped bussing.....as you are probably are aware bus drivers need to be chori checked(checked for criminal records etc) but sped busses are usually sub-contracted and there for are not necessarily under the same laws. There for you have a child like Immanuel or a nonverbal child on a bus with a driver from Heavens( or heck) knows where exposed to who knows what.......I probably spend at least 30% of my sped advocacy work on bussing issues........let me tell you...if what these kids are being exposed to, were being exposed to regular ed kids the public would be outraged. Thanks for bring this to the attention of so many. ~Joy

[Mouse7088]

His Mother said a very interesting thing last night, not exact words...she said if SHE would have left het child in a car for 4 hours and someone walked by seeing him, she would be charged with endangering the life of a child. I seriously think these drivers should also.

Joy, I really don't know that much about our bus drivers...except her name and the time she shows up at the house. Now you have me thinking just how UNINFORMED I really am. THAT's scary if you take a minute to think about it. Special ed or not....all of our kids are SPECIAL and need to be treated that way.

I have had a "few" problems with our own bussing system. I mean, here's ONE man or woman with what...30+ kids in a moving vehicle. She/he is suppose to be transporting our children in a safe fashion, how in the world can this one person keep their concentration on driving AND watching the going-ons of the kids?!?!?! Every one of my kids have been involded in a (or more) "situation" with another student while on the bus. When I ask what the driver did the answer is always "Nothing"...well...how in the world can I be TRULY upset with the person (driver) when I myself can't see everything my kids are doing in the back seat of our personal vehicle. Now this assistant and driver for the special ed bus...well...first they DO have more than one person acting as chaperone, but they didn't even fail to do their "job" during transport, this was a simple check thru the bus AFTER their route. For mercy sakes, it's not even a FULL SIZE bus, I don't think asking someone to take a small stroll down the aisle is too much to ask. Makes me wonder what really does go on while they are in route...what other responsibilities do they just "skip". UGH!

[jskarp]

In most states, they run a criminal background check on all drivers & monitors. I agree with you one hundred percent........how can one person drive the bus safely and watch all those kids? We don't have monitors here.....wish we did. I know some schools have a parent run monitor program, where they each take a turn riding the bus. I drive my boys to school......I always hated taking the bus as a kid. But we live pretty close......so it's not too hard.