Having driven a school bus for many years now, it bothers me to hear about incidents involving children left unattended on buses following school runs.
Recently, there were two such incidents (in the same week) in the United States involving four-year-old children who were left alone for hours on a school bus. This is totally unacceptable and absolutely warrants 'termination' of the driver committing the offense!
Here in Ontario, a school bus driver who neglects to check his/her bus for children following a run would be suspended (without pay) pending an investigation or immediately terminated if a child was found 'unattended' on a school bus.
Ontario regulations regarding 'post-inspections' on school buses require a driver to check each seat for sleeping children. This procedure ensures that children have all been unloaded at their respective schools. Drivers failing to complete the 'post-inspection' risk losing their employment. And rightfully so!
The process of checking seats for children takes as little as 30 seconds. What is so difficult about that? Imagine how a driver would feel if he/she were to leave a sleeping child on the bus for several hours in below freezing temperatures and the child were to succumb to hypothermia. All because the post-inspection was not completed. In my opinion, that should not be viewed as a tragedy, but as a criminal offense! The penalty under circumstances such as that warrant far more than termination of employment. The driver should be held accountable for his/her actions by facing criminal charges as well!
It is imperative that school bus drivers keep in mind they are transporting 'precious cargo'... our children! Therefore, extra care must be taken to ensure their safety. If a driver is not willing to follow rules/regulations set out by the Ministry of Transportation in regards to school bus operating procedures, then they should search out other employment!