Bus Driver, Monitors On Leave After Boy Falls Asleep, Doesn't Get Off School Bus
BOSTON (CBS) --An alarming phone call Joseph Toledo never expected: his young son Xavier, who boarded the school bus Monday morning, was missing and his sister, who goes to school with him, didn't know where he was.
"She was worried. She was about to cry and she was frantic," Toledo said.
At that point, Joseph Toledo asked for the principal of Up Academy Dorchester. He was told the school did a safety check of the property and Xavier never made it to class.
"I felt hopeless, I didn't know what to do, I didn't know where he was at and all I felt the worst could happen because he's asthmatic," Toledo explained.
Minutes later, Toledo got a call back from the principal: his son was found, asleep on the bus.
"It was very scary. I almost had an asthma attack because I was so scared," Xavier said.
According to the seven-year-old boy, when the bus got to Up Academy Dorchester, he was in such a deep sleep he didn't know they were at school.
"Before I woke up I had a dream that everyone in this whole city they left and I was the only one in the city," said Xavier.
In addition to the driver, there were bus monitors onboard Xavier's bus.
"They are there to make sure all the children are safe and all of them get off the bus," Toledo said.
Boston Public Schools said the monitors and the driver were placed on leave and sent WBZ-TV the following statement:
"The Boston Public Schools (BPS) Transportation Department is investigating an incident in which a first-grade student did not exit the school bus after it reached the student's school. The driver discovered the presence of the child a short time later while en route to another location, and returned the child to school unharmed. The safety of our students is always our top priority, and we are investigating to determine if protocols were followed in this incident."
Up Academy Dorchester followed up with a statement as well:
"We are working very closely with the Boston Public Schools Transportation Department to investigate what happened this morning and determine if appropriate protocols were followed. The safety of our students is always our top priority, and we will be working with BPS Transportation to ensure appropriate steps are taken so that something like this never happens again."
As for 7-year-old Xavier, he knows one thing for sure. "When I go on the bus, I always pray to God that I have a good day at school and now I'm never going to sleep again on the bus."
