By Deborah Shawcross

Driver disciplined after Courval boy left sleeping on school bus

Jan 15, 2015 | 6:00 AM

The driver who didn’t notice a sleeping boy on his bus until the child’s mother called has been disciplined but not fired by the Prairie South School Division.

Barb Holmes from Courval said her seven-year-old son Lachlyn was picked up at home around 7:30 a.m. on Jan. 9. Instead of getting off at Gravelbourg Elementary, he fell asleep on the bus. When he woke up, he was alone in the cold, dark bus parked outside the driver’s home.
 
The school division says the driver failed to check the bus before leaving. The school division would not say how he was being reprimanded because of privacy issues.
 
Director of education Tony Baldwin says he’s confident the driver will likely be even more cautious and that proper procedures will now be front of mind for him.
 
“We also know that we didn’t respond in a timely enough fashion internally to instill a sense of confidence in our response to the family. The division is working to improve communication in situations like this so it doesn’t happen again,” said Baldwin.  
 
Holmes said the school did not follow up with her until the next day, after News Talk Radio called the school division.

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