WEBER COUNTY, Utah, Sept. 30, 2020 (Gephardt Daily) — Weber School District has issued a statement after a pre-school child was left on a bus for approximately two hours.
“On Sept. 3, a situation occurred where a pre-school child was left unattended on a bus for an extended period of time,” said the statement. “The child had been picked up for pre-school but was mistakenly not dropped off at the school. The child remained on the bus for about two hours after the route had ended. It was later discovered the child was still on the bus prior to the bus making its afternoon run. Fortunately, the child was OK, but this does not excuse what took place.”
There are safeguards in place to prevent students from being left unattended on school buses, the statement said. One of these safety protocols requires bus drivers to walk the entire bus after each route to ensure no students are still on the bus.
“Weber School District has a responsibility to protect students who are being transported to and from school,” the statement said. “Upon being made aware of this situation, the district launched an internal investigation. After carefully reviewing what had occurred, it was determined there was no malicious intent on the part of the employee(s) involved. However, certain safety protocols were not followed which led to the child being accidentally left on the bus after the route had ended.”
Due to privacy laws, the district is not releasing specific information regarding the disciplinary action taken against the employee involved, the statement said.
“District and transportation officials have reached out to the family, offering our sincerest apologies for what took place,” the statement said. “The district has also conducted a review of our transportation policies and will be making any necessary adjustments to ensure this type of thing never happens.”
Weber School District transports approximately 10,500 students every day using 156 buses, the statement said. This includes transporting younger students to pre-schools located at various locations throughout the district.
