In Jersey City, a child with special needs was left on the school bus for more than 4 hours. http://www.care2.com/causes/boy-with-disabilities-forgotten-on-school-bus.html.
I can’t imagine how this could happen or why he wasn’t missed. The mother put him on the bus with every expectation he would be brought to school safely. The driver and aide were both fired. Nothing is mentioned about criminal prosecution, but I would hope that would follow. They were in charge of a child who was nonverbal and their only job was to deliver him safely to school. There were only eight children on the bus. How hard could it be to count that high?
In most schools, if a child is not in class and a parent had not called to explain that child’s absence, a call is made to the parents. Why didn’t this happen in this case? The fact that the child had special needs was well known.
The first clue anyone had that the child was not where he belonged was when a mechanic found him on the school bus four hours after being picked up. That he was not baked alive in the bus in 90 degree weather is nothing short of miraculous.
There are budget cuts everywhere and persons with disabilities have had to bear a disproportionate share of these cuts, but someone has to be accountable for things like this.
Annette Bourbonniere
401-846-1960
Fax: 401-846-1944
Twitter: @AccessInclude
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