Sandman, I understand where you are coming from, but on the other hand, here you have a school district who is absolutely responsible for these children. Not only that, why have a “bus monitor” if they are not going to do their job? Although I am totally against “gouging” anyone, I think this is a very legitimate lawsuit. If it were my child I would go after them in a heartbeat. I realize, just my opinion. They either need to hire competent people (good luck with that) or pay the price. Now that I think about it, I would say we are the ones getting “gouged” by these so called public workers. Probably belonged to a union. Our tax dollars at work once again.
Here is a point to consider before we judge this.
Who was supposed to meet the bus to pick up the child? At 4 years-old and autistic to boot, there should have been someone at the bus stop saying “Hey wait, where’s my kid?”
I’m sure we can all come up with some additional questions, and unfortunately the story leaves out the circumstances yet again. Personally? I think the lawsuit is asking for far too much. Odds are it’ll be settled out of court.
4 year old on a school bus…. Where was the parent in this matter. kid should be taken away for child neglect. Nobody in their right mind would let a 4 year old on a bus without a adult family member, let alone on that is autistic.
Hey geniuses. This boy was on his way TO school in the morning and was left in the bus when it was parked at the depot for the day. This one falls entirely on bus and school staff.
I am a parent of an autistic child and the school appears to be much more to blame in this situation. I was completely outraged and felt like suing as well when I read it because the school district has a responsibility to protect these children just the same as they would any “normal child”. In fact, it would seem they have an higher duty here since the child has special needs. What if the child had been physically hurt in some way by the heat or what if he or she had slipped off the bus and disappeared? How would this change the responsibility and ramifications for the school system? Autism has become quick the epidemic in the 21st century and our country’s school systems across the nation need to update their safety protocols to ensure that each and every child is protected and none left behind.
Sealy, if the child had been hurt that would change everything. I agree that the school needs to have protocols in place. Most schools call if a student with special needs is not in the class.
A friend of mine drove a special needs bus that in the winter had big old blankets for the kids. As the kids got off the bus the blankets were tossed on the back seat. At the end of the run she walked back to see about any students but did not realize that one of her students had crawled under the pile of blankets and gone to sleep. It could have been serious but it was caught quick enough. Didn’t matter, she lost job, license, and was sued. With that much risk, who would want the job.
I’m torn in situations like this, where there was definite negligence but no personal injury or damages (as far as the article says). At this point, isn’t the main goal to make sure this doesn’t happen again? If the district releases the responsible individuals, other than to pad your own finances, what does suing the school hope to accomplish?
Of course, my comments and opinions were derived from being an outsider to the situation. Maybe they would change if this happened to my own child.
I have an autistic child, who will become mute when scared. This happened to him in a different way. Once he had a sub driver who demanded that he get off the bus at a stop that wasn’t correct (in a BAD part of town). My child just sat there, mute, while the driver got madder and madder.
Finally I guess the guy called dispatch and they told him of his error. By the time my son got home, he was a mess, abouslutely melted down for hours. These kids don’t process like you and I do, and being left in the heat could have done damage that goes beyond physical injury. I couldn’t get my son back on the bus after his experience.
Don’t judge unless you have walked in the shoes of a special needs parent. The little accomodations we get barely touch the load we carry. I have a typical child too, and can tell you that no matter how normal a child may look – the difference is HUGE!
I agree. My nephew is also autistic and the trails parents go through are immense and they have to send their children to school. Its hard enough to do that let alone find out that your child was left on a bus, by themselves, in the heat, for ANY amount of time. I can only imagine what that mother is feeling. If this happened to my nephew I would be fit to be tied.
First, was the boy ok?
2nd Assuming the boy was ok then you should be thankful that your son was ok instead of gouging the local school district.
$350 punitive- Although a serious mistake, unless you a perfect, you shouldn’t throw the first stone.
Sandman, I understand where you are coming from, but on the other hand, here you have a school district who is absolutely responsible for these children. Not only that, why have a “bus monitor” if they are not going to do their job? Although I am totally against “gouging” anyone, I think this is a very legitimate lawsuit. If it were my child I would go after them in a heartbeat. I realize, just my opinion. They either need to hire competent people (good luck with that) or pay the price. Now that I think about it, I would say we are the ones getting “gouged” by these so called public workers. Probably belonged to a union. Our tax dollars at work once again.
And guess who is going to get stuck footing the bill, again? The taxpayers, of course, when their property taxes increase.
Here is a point to consider before we judge this.
Who was supposed to meet the bus to pick up the child? At 4 years-old and autistic to boot, there should have been someone at the bus stop saying “Hey wait, where’s my kid?”
I’m sure we can all come up with some additional questions, and unfortunately the story leaves out the circumstances yet again. Personally? I think the lawsuit is asking for far too much. Odds are it’ll be settled out of court.
4 year old on a school bus…. Where was the parent in this matter. kid should be taken away for child neglect. Nobody in their right mind would let a 4 year old on a bus without a adult family member, let alone on that is autistic.
This parent just thinks she hit the lottery.
CSP, do you have kids? 4 year olds go on the bus everywhere. If the town or city has public nursery school then they have bus pick up.
Hey geniuses. This boy was on his way TO school in the morning and was left in the bus when it was parked at the depot for the day. This one falls entirely on bus and school staff.
I am a parent of an autistic child and the school appears to be much more to blame in this situation. I was completely outraged and felt like suing as well when I read it because the school district has a responsibility to protect these children just the same as they would any “normal child”. In fact, it would seem they have an higher duty here since the child has special needs. What if the child had been physically hurt in some way by the heat or what if he or she had slipped off the bus and disappeared? How would this change the responsibility and ramifications for the school system? Autism has become quick the epidemic in the 21st century and our country’s school systems across the nation need to update their safety protocols to ensure that each and every child is protected and none left behind.
Sealy, if the child had been hurt that would change everything. I agree that the school needs to have protocols in place. Most schools call if a student with special needs is not in the class.
A friend of mine drove a special needs bus that in the winter had big old blankets for the kids. As the kids got off the bus the blankets were tossed on the back seat. At the end of the run she walked back to see about any students but did not realize that one of her students had crawled under the pile of blankets and gone to sleep. It could have been serious but it was caught quick enough. Didn’t matter, she lost job, license, and was sued. With that much risk, who would want the job.
I’m torn in situations like this, where there was definite negligence but no personal injury or damages (as far as the article says). At this point, isn’t the main goal to make sure this doesn’t happen again? If the district releases the responsible individuals, other than to pad your own finances, what does suing the school hope to accomplish?
Of course, my comments and opinions were derived from being an outsider to the situation. Maybe they would change if this happened to my own child.
I have an autistic child, who will become mute when scared. This happened to him in a different way. Once he had a sub driver who demanded that he get off the bus at a stop that wasn’t correct (in a BAD part of town). My child just sat there, mute, while the driver got madder and madder.
Finally I guess the guy called dispatch and they told him of his error. By the time my son got home, he was a mess, abouslutely melted down for hours. These kids don’t process like you and I do, and being left in the heat could have done damage that goes beyond physical injury. I couldn’t get my son back on the bus after his experience.
Don’t judge unless you have walked in the shoes of a special needs parent. The little accomodations we get barely touch the load we carry. I have a typical child too, and can tell you that no matter how normal a child may look – the difference is HUGE!
I agree. My nephew is also autistic and the trails parents go through are immense and they have to send their children to school. Its hard enough to do that let alone find out that your child was left on a bus, by themselves, in the heat, for ANY amount of time. I can only imagine what that mother is feeling. If this happened to my nephew I would be fit to be tied.
A mom, thanks for giving us a little insight into your life.