May 14, 2009 5:51 pm US/Eastern
Little Boy Left Alone On School Bus For 5 Hours
NORTHBRIDGE (WBZ) ―
Northbridge Police have filed a request for a complaint charging a school bus driver with reckless child endangerment after he allegedly left a 3-year-old in the back of his bus for nearly five hours.
The driver and a bus monitor have been fired by the bus contractor for Northbridge Public Schools. "All of the safety mechanisms fell through," said Supt. Susan Gorky.
School and police officials said the driver picked up the boy at home about 8:30 Monday morning, went to the Balmer Elementary School where the boy attends pre-school, dropped-off other kids and went back to the Vendetti Bus Company yard.
It was not until the bus went to the high school, about 1:30, that the driver found the child still belted in his seat. "They're supposed to check the bus, make sure the bus is empty. They failed to follow that protocol," said Northbridge Police Chief Walter Warchol.
The bus company owner had no comment and referred us to the superintendent of schools who said the boy's family was immediately notified after he'd been left on the bus but not when he failed to show up at pre-school. "It does appear, although we are still investigating, that some of our internal systems did fail," said Gorky.
The superintendent said the school system advised the boy's family to take him to a pediatrician and he has resumed his school routine. She confirms the driver, with eight years experience, also dropped off 5-year-old Dylan Alexander last Friday at the wrong day care center where he sat on the porch nearly three hours until the day care provider returned from a day off. "I was frantic. I was thinking the worst 'cause my little 5-year-old knows how to get from where he was found to my house," said Devita Nardone, Dylan's mother.
The Superintendent said all procedures of the bus company and the schools are being reviewed.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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