A seven-year-old student from Kruse Elementary School was riding the bus home when he fell asleep. He missed his stop. The bus driver and a monitor never noticed the sleeping boy as they returned the vehicle to the bus barn and left.
The child was discovered only after the boy's worried mother called the school looking for him.
"I called and they got a hold of the bus drivers and they called them back. They went back to the bus and that is when they found my son still asleep. The windows were closed and it was locked," said the student's mother Eva Perez.
The student is OK. The school district says it dismissed the two employees for not checking the bus before locking up.
Pasadena ISD issued the following statement:
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"Thankfully, a 7-year old Pasadena ISD student is unharmed after being left on a school bus Wednesday, April 23, at the end of the day at the district's Transportation Department. The driver and monitor reportedly failed to inspect the bus before leaving it for the evening.
This should never have happened. The safety and security of our students is always a top priority in Pasadena ISD. Parents trust the district to transport their children to and from school safely. Our drivers are trained to fulfill that responsibility. The Transportation staff efficiently transports more than 17,000 students by bus every day. However, this driver and monitor did not follow through on their critical responsibility. As a result of this incident, the driver and monitor have been terminated.
We are grateful that the student was found unharmed and returned to his home safely.
Transportation personnel discovered the child asleep on the bus immediately after the family called to report that the student had not arrived home after school.
We regret that this happened. Transporting 17,000 students each day to and from school requires careful planning and coordination keeping student safety at the forefront. This incident was an exception not at all typical of our staff. We will continue to train employees and are confident they will enforce procedures to keep students safe."
