By By MICHAEL C. GUILMETTE JR. / Niles Daily Star
NILES – A sleeping Ellis Elementary School student left on a Niles school bus led to the firing of substitute bus driver Thursday morning.
The napping student was discovered on the bus at the school's bus garage on Lake Street in Niles after the child did not turn up in the morning head count at Ellis.
"There is a specific pre-trip and post-trip procedure to be followed by drivers," Doug Law, superintendent of Niles Community Schools, said about the incident. Law said drivers are required to walk through the bus following each run to make sure nobody remains onboard.
The driver's lack of following this prescribed procedure resulted in his firing, Law said.
He added the child was found on the bus by Jan Doubleday, the district's director of transportation. Law said Doubleday returned the student to Ellis before the school's breakfast period ended.
He said the child was left unattended for about 10 minutes, and did not appear to have been affected by the incident.
"Our standard safety procedures made sure that this did not become a traumatic or an emotional experience for the child," Law added.