Special Needs Child Spends Day Inside Bus After He Was Forgotten

A special needs child has spent a day inside a bus at a Melbourne bus depot after he was forgotten during school drop-off.

A seven-year-old boy attending Monash Special Developmental School was left on a Crown Coaches bus last Thursday, when temperatures rose to 31 degrees, Channel Seven reports.

Thankfully, the child was unharmed, as he had a packed lunch with him and is believed to have slept through much of the day inside the bus, which was parked in an undercover area of Nunawading depot.

The boy was reportedly found in the afternoon before the bus was to leave again for the school pick-up run.

The incident was confirmed by the school and Department of Education and Training.

Monash Special Developmental School principal, Helen McCoy, said she was “appalled” at what occurred. “This was completely unacceptable and we are pleased that the bus company has taken tough action against the driver and chaperone,” she said, adding that they are also now calling parents immediately when the child is believed to be absent, to prevent a similar incident from happening again.

Crown Coaches has already fired the driver and supervisor involved in the incident, according to Channel Seven.

An almost identical incident also occurred in June last year when another special needs child was locked for over five hours on a bus parked in a depot operated by Crown Coaches.

At the time, Crown Coaches issued a statement through the Bus Association of Victoria, saying they had “clarified their procedures to prevent such an incident from recurring”.

“Crown Coaches have operated special school bus services for 45 years. They are the largest special school bus operator in the state. They have never had an incident of this nature before. This failure to adhere to company policy and provide the highest levels of care to a student could have had far worse ramifications and Crown Coaches deeply regrets the matter,” the statement said.

Fairfax Media was unable to reach Crown Coaches for a response after business hours on Thursday.

The Department of Education and Training is reviewing its arrangement with the bus company. The incident is also being “thoroughly investigated by the department.”

Source: Theage.com.au