MADISON (WKOW) -- Madison Metropolitan School District and Badger Bus opened investigations Wednesday night after a young boy was left on a school bus when it was parked for the night.
According to anincident reportfrom MPD public information officer Tyler Grigg, the five-year-old stayed on the bus after all the stops were made. He then left the bus through the emergency exit at the rear and wandered the area of E. Rusk Avenue before a passerby found him and contacted police.
In a statement, Badger Bus co-owner John Meier said two staff members have been fired as a result of the incident.
"After completing our investigation to determine what had happened, we took the necessary action, and both the driver and on-board attendant are no longer employed at Badger Bus," company owner John Meier says.
"We are deeply saddened and disturbed by this incident and are thankful for the assistance provided by the police. Our apologies go out to the parents, MSCR staff at Lake View, and the Madison School district for this regrettable incident," Meier says.
"All employees undergo thorough training that includes the proper procedures for loading and unloading students that ride the Badger Bus. This training includes doing post-trip inspections of the inside of the bus after each route and at the return to base to make sure all students have been unloaded. Our staff training continues throughout the year as our safety procedures are the most important part of our training," Meier says.
"MMSD is taking this incident very seriously and has been in close contact with the family as well as Badger Bus leadership to ensure corrective steps are taken and incidents like this do not happen again," says Madison Metropolitan School District Spokesperson Timothy LeMonds.
" To have a child left alone in this way is something no family or student should have to experience. Our contractual procedures with Badger Bus are specifically designed to ensure these kinds of incidents do not happen, and those procedures were not followed," LeMonds says.
LeMonds says the school district's contract with Badger Bus requires all school buses to have an on-board, electronic child reminder system that involves an alarm if a driver fails to deactivate the system at the back of the bus. LeMonds declines to say if the ignored procedures involved that child-check system being inoperable.
Meier has yet to respond to a request for comment from 27 News on the bus's child reminder system or on the district's position procedures were not followed.
Five year old Anthony Watson's father, Antonio Watson tells 27 News he wants answers on the apparent safety breaches that left the kindergarten student alone near traffic and miles from home.
"He could have been hit by a car," Watson says. "I thought somebody took him. I was thinking the worst."
Watson says the implications of the required, child reminder system on the school bus potentially having been off-line extend to any child who has been a passenger on that bus.
"So now the bus driver doesn't have to go to the back of the bus to push the button, they can just walk off the bus," Watson says.
Watson hopes the stake holders responsible for Madison student transportation address the incident thoroughly so no other family has to go through what he did during his five year old's disappearance.
"I couldn't talk, I couldn't breathe," Watson says. "I wanted it to be a bad dream."
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