'Some child is going to die': Sask. mother calls for drivers who forget kids on buses to be fired
A Saskatchewan mother says penalties for school bus drivers who forget children on the bus are not tough enough.
"It should be automatic termination. If you forget a child on the bus — boom — automatic termination," said Barb Holmes.
Two years ago, on a freezing January morning, Holmes' then-seven-year-old son, Lachlyn, was left on a bus.
The school in Gravelbourg, Sask., called the family when he didn't arrive. Holmes' husband called the driver at home. The driver checked the bus and the boy was asleep in the back.
On Monday morning it happened to another boy.
Luke Keshane, 5, fell asleep on the bus on his way to school on the Saulteaux First Nation, Sask.
The driver — who didn't notice the boy was still on board — drove the bus into a garage and left for the day. Temperatures dipped to –18 C.
Keshane wasn't found until 3 p.m CST that afternoon.
Holmes said she feels for the boy's mother.
"I would literally hug her and just say how sorry I am," she said.
"I'm so sad that with my own story there were not new rules or enforced laws and legislation."
Discipline up to school divisions
Holmes is hoping the recent incident will prompt the provincial government to push school divisions to make punishments for drivers more severe.
The Ministry of Education said in statement that under the Education Act, school divisions are responsible for their own policies regarding transportation.
Meanwhile, the school Keshane was headed to on Saulteaux First Nation is under the jurisdiction of the federal government.
The driver who forgot Keshane received a three-day suspension.
In Holmes' case, the Prairie South School Division did not fire the driver.
Holmes fears that doing nothing could have tragic consequences.
"Some child is going to die," she said.
Following the incident in January 2015, the Holmeses decided to pull their son from school. They said they could no longer trust the driver to get their son to and from school safely.
Lachlyn, now nine years old, is home schooled.
