Purchase Line School District Superintendent Shawn Ford has issued a public statement in the wake of a school bus driver apparently failing to notice that an autistic student had fallen asleep on his bus and had not gotten off at school last week. The five-year-old boy was taken home at the end of the school day, not having been in class for the entire day.
Ford writes, “As has been released by the PA State Police at Indiana, there was an incident last week in which a child was left on the school bus during the school day. Our focus, thought and concern is with the student and family, who did not contribute to this in any way . We have contacted our third party transportation contractor to ensure procedures are in place and being adhered to for the safety of all students. Further, we continue to work with law enforcement agencies until the legal process is complete.”
The child’s mother says she was not notified of the incident until after her son was home from school. The bus driver, a 69-year-old Marion Center man, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. He no longer works for the bus company.
