A 13-year-old student with special needs was left alone unnoticed inside a school bus in Florida on March 2. The same incident took place one week later. In both cases, the boy had to travel by free rides among passing vehicles to get to his house which was 30 miles away.
One Our Children's Academy students fell asleep on the school bus on their way back from school that he did not notice his fellow students leaving.
After seeing the students got off the bus and assuming that no one was left, Gwendolyn Simmons, the bus attendant stepped out without noticing the sleeping student on one of the seats.
"She was too busy gathering up two or three bags of something she had. And you can see her...she's out carrying the bags and does not even look down at this child laying in the seat sleeping next to her," said Grady Judd, Polk County Sheriff.
Gale Brown, the bus driver later followed the attendant also failing to notice that they have locked one student inside, according to Parenting.
The bus surveillance camera showed that 15 minutes later the student woke up, noticed that he was alone, immediately took his bag and climbed out the window.
The two women were arrested and charged with child neglect.
"I want to introduce you to two people who will not be the school bus driver and attendant of the year for the Polk County School system. Gail Brown the driver, Gwendolyn Simmons, the attendant," said Grady in a press conference.
"We're blessed that he was picked up on every occasion by good folks who gave him a ride home, and that he wasn't picked up by some n'er-do-well or child predator or someone who wanted to create harm for him," added Judd, according to ABC 13.
The student told nobody about the incident except the bus attendant who refused to believe him. His parents didn't even know what had happened until the second time when he had to tell his mother because the boy missed his afternoon therapy schedule failing to come home on time.
"When we found out, I was just thankful that the student was safe," said Steven Whitaker, executive director of Our Children's Academy, according to CBS 12.
