A school bus driver in Beverly, Massachusetts, is on paid leave after an elementary school student who fell asleep was left on the bus during morning drop-off at school Tuesday.
Rachel Martin's 9-year-old son boarded his school bus Tuesday morning, but when other students went into Centerville Elementary School, he was left behind.
"I am angry," Martin said.
After the bus driver finished the route, she started her next round of pick-ups for high school students.
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That's when Martin's daughter got on board, and to her dismay, the teen found her little brother sleeping in the seat.
"It's a required safety check," said Martin. "Check the entire bus, there's supposed to be a monitor, there was no monitor that day."
The little boy has learning disabilities and his mom isn't sure what could have happened. She fears he might have been left at the bus lot all day.
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"My son would have been in a yard by himself until pick-up time," she said. "All alone in 28-degree weather. It's enraging and it's terrifying."
"At no time was the student alone on the bus," Beverly Superintendent Sue Charochak said in a statement. "We treat matters like this with utmost seriousness, and have taken action to re-train our transportation staff."
"I definitely want to see at least the bus driver be terminated," said Martin. "In my opinion, what she did was inexcusable. It would have taken 20 seconds to walk through that aisle and do what she was supposed to do."
The school district says it has launched an investigation into what happened.
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