Teen in wheelchair left on school bus

[pstokely]

Source: KCTV

According to school officials, there are about 30 special needs students who attend Lakeview Woods State School. On Friday one student never made it inside. Instead, she was left on the school bus in the parking lot.

It is a situation that seems unimaginable, but state officials confirmed the 19-year-old disabled student who is in a wheelchair and cannot speak was left on her school bus on Friday. The bus, according to school officials, remained parked in the parking lot of the school all day long.

After school when the bus driver returned to the bus to take the students home, he or she found the girl.

According to those close to the situation, the teen had soiled herself and was dehydrated. Wednesday the teen's parents, who did not want to talk on camera yet, said their daughter's wheelchair had been unlatched but, beyond that, it appears she was simply forgotten.

Read more: http://www.kctv5.com/story/24466053/teen-in-wheelchair-left-on-school-bus?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

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they get what they pay for with low wages

[truthisfreedom]

1. You can bet there will be some new strictly-enforced

procedures instituted by bus companies all over the place.

[FarPoint]

17. They probably need more staff.

I'm sick of working on the edge every day myself. Shit will happen.

[pstokely]

21. do they have enough $ for more staff?

probably can't afford more than cheap labor

[FarPoint]

25. Thus accidents and mistakes happen.

The standard of care drops significantly without funding. Who knows...maybe the Disability Levy failed?

[truthisfreedom]

2. Highs this week there range from 33F to 1F.

Was likely in the teens today.

[passiveporcupine]

11. According to NOAA

The high was in the low 50's on Friday, the 10th, in Lee's Summit, MO.

But the lows were near freezing, so morning might have been pretty bad.

[pacalo]

3. To think there was a school aide on the bus who could have been more observant

of each child on the bus; in fact, I'm wondering how many children of the school's 30 students ride on the girl's bus. And you're right, pstokely -- pay employees well & they'll perform with more pride & regard for their jobs & responsibilities.

I can only imagine how hurt her parents are every time they imagine their daughter as she must have experienced that long school day (5-7 hours?) & what could have happened if she had had a seizure while left unrestrained in her wheelchair. Just awful.

[defacto7]

6. So, you think this is about money?

instead of human care, human responsibility, human kindness?

"And you're right, pstokely -- pay employees well & they'll perform with more pride & regard for their jobs & responsibilities. "

I'm sorry but that kind of comment nullifies the rest of your comment.

[pacalo]

8. Take it as you like it. No problem.

[defacto7]

9. Oh, I do.

[jwirr]

24. As a parent of a young adult who sounds similar to this girl I can tell you that I would be

absolutely steaming and this school would be in trouble. The school where my daughter goes has more students and when the bus drives up most of the teachers and aides go out to help empty the bus. It is never left up to one or two workers. I asked in another post what state - apparently we are talking Missouri. They need to get their act together.

[pacalo]

28. Absolutely.

Thank goodness your daughter's school takes its responsibilities seriously.

[jwirr]

29. And that is the point - they really care where she is attending.

[RC]

4. Is is really so hard for the driver to look towards the back of the bus before he gets off?

There is no excuse for this.

Lee's Summit is only a few miles from here. I never heard of shit like this happening in 45 years living in North Dakota.

[demigoddess]

27. I've had a special ed daughter too.

in several states, they usually unload the bus at the school door and then drive and park the bus elsewhere. Really weird that bus driver did not notice that bus was not empty. That being said, I know that in one state they abused parents and students. Another state they ignored parents opinions. In another, I was approached to put my child in a home at age 16, even though we knew we would be moving to another state soon (military). I would not trust most of these institutions any farther than I could throw them. I say the parents should sue for the right and the money to drive their child to school themselves. A few million should cover it. Also they might have done it on purpose to get the parents to take the child out of school. Had that experience in one state. They were trying to force parents to take children out because they did not want them in their school.

[brewens]

5. I know a family that had a real tragedy with a severely handicapped kid. He

required 24/7 care and I remember the family real well when I was in high school. The had a kid who was a good basketball player from one of the small towns near us. You would always see them at any big game and of course where the son was playing. I got to know the son at our local community college and him and his older brother are really great guys.

The tragedy happened when the boys mom's friend won a trip to Hawaii and asked her to come with her. This woman from rural Idaho had never been anywhere and never done anything for herself. Everyone insisted she go! Her husband was perfectly okay taking care of the handicapped son. Except that this time he wasn't. He had a massive heart attack and died. It was just insane bad luck that none of the three adult children or friends happened to come by the house or call. The kid died too.

When I was in high school in the 70's we had no elevators for the couple of kids in wheel chairs. A couple of us big guys would make sure and take care of that. We stood by waiting and packed them up and down the stairs. I'm really glad to see that in most schools, they now have elevators for those kids. We didn't mind helping them but it's better if they don't need us.

Maybe that kid couldn't speak but could normally get herself off the bus once unbelted?

[pacalo]

10. That's really sad.

[defacto7]

7. You say "they get what they pay for with low wages"

So it's about money instead of human kindness, responsibility and the things that money can NEVER buy?

That... is really the saddest comment on the nature of humanity I have heard in a while.

[pacalo]

13. You're soooooo taking this the wrong way.

From my own experience, during my twenties, I worked for a large company (1400 employees, plus hundreds in contractor employees) in administration & I learned a lot from the managers' philosophical points of view. They understood that when their employees were paid well (among other employee benefits/perks, the more productive the employees were apt to be.

I've had part-time jobs in recent years where I've seen how low pay affects morale & attitude. It's in that context that I could imagine the aide & the bus driver (two adults who could have given thought to that student) having a "let's get out of here to get some coffee" state of mind.

Those were my thoughts, secondary to the utterly unacceptable treatment of that disabled girl.

[defacto7]

14. I appreciate your explanation.

But I still have to separate the human responsibility for mankind element from the "having a good job and money" element. I see no correlation between the two. Studies about productivity and job satisfaction comparisons don't deal with how we treat the less advantaged among us or moral responsibility, they deal with personal wants, satisfaction and goals. Actually more recent studies show that goal orientation is far more productive in the workplace than money, but that is a digression from my point. People don't forget a child in a wheelchair because of their job satisfaction, they overlook the disadvantaged among us because of irresponsibility and lack of compassion. Mistakes happen, but some mistakes take on the mantle of pure selfishness and it costs us out integrity. The most moneyed and job secure make those same mistakes every day.

[emmadoggy]

12. What I want to know is

why didn't anyone from the school question the girl's whereabouts that day?

[madrchsod]

16. good point...someone should have asked that question

[Stargazer09]

19. When my kids don't show up,

Our school keeps calling until they find out why my children aren't at school.

I know that not all schools care that much, though. We are pretty fortunate.

[emmadoggy]

30. I work in a school and we do the same thing.

If a parent hasn't called to say the child is sick or absent for some other reason, the school calls and tries to track down where the child is.

[madrchsod]

15. this happened where my wife works

both the driver and aide were fired. they worked for years on the bus route then one day they fuck`d up.

[Stargazer09]

18. Unfortunately

In a case like this, one screw up is all it should take to fire people.

You just can't leave a child on a bus, particularly one who can't communicate and has limited mobility.

[pstokely]

22. but will their replacements be any more careful?

nt

[Stargazer09]

20. Regardless of wages

That should NEVER be allowed to happen.

The bus driver should always check the bus, front to back and back to front.

I hope the girl will be okay.

[jwirr]

23. What state are we talking about here?

[MissMillie]

26. Is it really all that difficult

To walk through the bus to make sure it's empty before you park it for the day or night?

Heck, I'd do a walk through just to make sure no one dropped a mitten.

[emmadoggy]

31. At our school the drivers are required to do that,

and I know of an incident where a child remained on the bus (I think he fell asleep) and the driver didn't check the bus. The child woke up shortly after and was able to get to school, but I'm pretty sure the driver was fired for not performing the check.

[revolutionbrees]

32. This happened to one of my daughter's friends.

The young lady is verbal but has a very very soft voice (she was born with tumors throughout her body and has undergone multiple surgeries). Thankfully another bus was running very late and the driver saw her on the bus. In southern Louisiana in August, she would not have lasted very long. The district implemented a policy that all special needs children be allowed to get off their buses before other buses unload so there are no distractions for the driver and he can account for all his passengers.