A child was left on a school bus for hours Wednesday after a driver reportedly forgot to make sure all passengers had left the vehicle before parking it in the bus shed, the Ukiah Unified School District confirmed Thursday.
“We are obviously very distressed that this happened, and we do have procedures in place to prevent these situations,” said UUSD Superintendent Deb Kubin, explaining that the driver involved was a substitute who did not perform all steps on the required driver checklist, which includes making sure that each child has exited the bus before exiting it yourself.
Kubin could not confirm any details about the child such as age or gender, but said the student was being dropped off June 14 for the first day of summer school classes at Grace Hudson Elementary School and did not exit the bus with the rest of the passengers.
Not aware that the student hadn’t exited, the driver drove the vehicle, which was the standard-sized UUSD bus, into the bus shed and left the child alone “for almost four hours.”
Kubin said the driver did not notice the child was still on the bus once they returned, and it was only when the child returned home and told a parent about the incident that it was discovered.
“These incidents are extremely rare, but are extremely distressing and can be very traumatizing for the student and others,” said Kubin, adding that while the district “feels very confident in the protocols we have in place,” she was also pleased to report that even more safeguards will be installed soon.
Kubin said a new state law took effect this year requiring school buses to have alarms that force drivers to walk to the back of the bus to turn off before they can exit the vehicle, effectively forcing them to check for students who may be sleeping or hiding on the bus.
The law, Senate Bill 1072, was passed after a special needs child died after being left in a school bus in Southern California in 2015. Though school districts are not required to install the “Child Check-Mate” systems until the 2018-19 school year, Kubin said the UUSD is installing them this summer.
When asked if the driver in Wednesday’s incident was still working for the district or sanctioned in any way, Kubin said she could not discuss personnel matters, but added that the district “is required to report this incident to the Department of Motor Vehicles, and we do feel this is an egregious example of negligence.”
Kubin also could not speak to the child’s condition, but said that to her knowledge, the child was in good health.
