Posted on 01/25/2011 11:56:38 AM PST by nickcarraway
The wheels on the school bus go 'round and 'round, but eventually students are supposed to get off.
Not so for one South Florida boy, who was trapped on his school bus the entire day after the bus driver forgot to check and see if all of the students got off for school. Dylan Gottshall was found Monday on his school bus around 1 p.m., hours after he was supposed to get off and go to class at Parkway Elementary School in Port St. Lucie, TCPalm.com reports. The 7-year-old first grader was picked up at his bus stop around 7:30 a.m., but fell asleep on the bus by the time it arrived at school. He didn't wake up as all the other kids got off the bus and so the bus driver drove the bus back to the bus depot.
And so Dylan was trapped on the bus for hours with no way to get off, his father said.
"I was in shock and I was very angry that my child was left on a bus," Sam Gottshall said. "We all know what happens to kids who get locked in vehicles on hot days and everything and I was thankful it wasn't a hot day." School district officials said they were checking into the incident to see how a student could be stuck on a bus the entire day without anyone noticing.
So what do you do on a school bus all day? Dylan decided he'd get a math lesson in.
He counted all the open windows and all the closed windows. And then he counted them again, his father said. "He was very scared an
And why didn’t the bus driver do a check of his bus for sleeping students?
At the very least he should be fired. At most.. he might be sued or face criminal charges.
Department of Redundancy Department
Nanny-state alert.
You’ve never run a Cub Scout Pack, have you. This kid would be a Wolf, and I could well imagine many not being able to get out of an emergency exit. Emergency, for example, has four syllables.
The bus depot is also part of the maintenance yard and it is quite close to the USPO and several private businesses. I think the child did not want to be found.
He could have shouted or made himself noticed with very little effort.
Still it was not his fault that he was left on the bus.
If the Emergency Door WAS mentioned at all, it was probably a warning NOT to open it, so the kids wouldn't fool around. I'm just glad he's OK, and this will be a reminder to all drivers to CHECK EVERY SEAT before taking the bus back to the barn in the morning OR the evening.
He was probably scared to death and became paralyzed with fear.
Does someone have to hold it for little Dylan while he pees?
I turned seven WHILE in third grade!
My kids know this. If my child were on a schoolbus like this, they would likely think "I should stay here. They will find me eventually."
Depending on circumstances, that may be the smartest move.
I don’t know, I’m a little suspicious. Was he really that sound asleep? Perhaps, or did he think it would be fun to stay on the bus? We’ll probably never know, but a 7 year old is old enough to think that might be fun, and then later decide he had better say he was asleep. Sorry, I raised 3 boys, I know how their minds can work.
But, I suspect the bus driver is in trouble. It probably is time we stop all public education, and let parents find their own free daycare.
I agree, he was better off where he was.
Being in school in August happened LONG before No Child Left Behind. Kids in the South have been starting school in August for over 20 years. They also get out in late May or early June. Here in MA, they don’t start school until just around Labor Day, but they don’t get out some years until late June, depending on how many Snow Days they have. This year, they will definitely stay in school until late June!
They’ve pushed back the date you can start school in most places. If you were 5 by Dec 1, you used to be able to start kindergarten. Now it’s by Sept 1, usually. All of my children turned six during kindergarten.
On the other hand, I was always one of the youngest in my class. I turned 18 after I started college.
He probably learned more that day than the other public schoolchildren. And no culture-rot brainwashing, either.
Well, I can’t speak for the south , but Connecticut and Illinois have both been starting school earlier to get more time in before the federal tests. Labor Day was always a logical cut off for the end of summer vacation. I’m not sure why schools in the south would want to spend more on A/C (assuming the schools have it) or schools in the north, for that matter (even less likely to have it, so the students and teachers sweat it out).
7 is a little young, but I remember one time, I was about 12, our bus was stuck in a snow drift on some back road. The driver told all the kids to sit and wait for “help” After about 20 minutes, we decided screw that, we’re only about a half mile from home. So, we popped the back door and high tailed in home. Came back a couple hours later and the bus was still stuck there.
That may have been the moment I learned NEVER depend on the Govt.
I wish the government would metaphorically ignore me like this every day.
I kind of doubt that. This is a busy yard. If he wanted to be seen he would have been seen.
Your average 7 year old can certainly figure out how to attract attention to himself. He was not too paralyzed with fear to count windows.
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