Preschooler Abandoned In School Bus

Officials: Special Needs Student Spent Hours Alone

HARTFORD, Conn. -- Authorities are investigating how a young special needs preschooler was abandoned on his school bus for hours. A 3-year-old boy, who school officials said has an autism-related disorder, was supposed to be in classes at Burr Elementary School in Hartford's South End.

Instead, the special needs preschooler was left behind, stranded on a bus by himself for roughly six hours.

Besthoff said the bus driver parked the bus in a lot in Hartford's North End before getting back on the bus for the afternoon route. That's when the driver is said to have heard a scratching sound. The boy's mother told school system officials that the boy, who is not verbal, appears to be OK.

Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez, who is also the chairman of the Board of Education, said he is outraged and is demanding immediate answers. In addition to questioning the bus driver and bus monitor, officials have also questioned the district's policy about students who do not show up for class. Current policy mandates teachers to call home the first day a student is absent.

The city admits that the boy's parents were never contacted when he failed to arrive at school. The city said that teachers may not call home for two or three days of a student not showing up for school. In response, district officials said the policy of teachers calling parents the day a child does not show up for class will be enforced. "This is a failure of the system. We got to look at the system, at the policies we have," Perez said. The contractor that hires special education buses for the city said that the bus driver and bus monitor were suspended without pay pending the results of an investigation that is expected to span several days. "I talked to the superintendent and asked him to make sure that there will be consequences as a result of this," said Perez said.

A number of Hartford schools have started a pilot program that involves an automated phone system to call a child's home each day the child is absent. Perez said he hopes to have the automated system in place for all 42 of the city's schools by Jan. 1.

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Funny how the local ESD can't understand why I refuse to bus Derek and would rather drive him to all ESD related services. A few weeks ago while having lunch with my husband I was flabbergasted as I watched a local school bus pull into the parking lot, it was an obvious special needs bus, with students on board. I watched as the driver stayed at the wheel, but the aide jumped out, and came inside for almost 10 minutes to pick up food and then boarded the bus with it. What if something would have happened in those 10 minutes?

Reading that story above though, makes my stomach turn and my heart ache.