A 5-year-old was left on a Bayfield School District school bus in frigid temperatures Monday morning and was found walking down U.S. Highway 160B by a member of the Upper Pine Fire Protection District.
On Monday morning, while she was at work in Durango, Amanda Johnston got the kind of call every parent dreads.
"When's the last time you saw your son?" the man asked.
The answer was when she put him on the bus.
The bus situation was unusual that morning, said Troy Zabel, superintendent of Bayfield schools. The mix-up occurred when Max, 5, fell asleep on the back seat of the bus and wasn't noticed when the students had to transfer off a bus with chains installed onto one without for the highway. The driver of the first bus then went back to the bus barn and parked the bus.
"Max woke up alone because he was cold in those negative temperatures we had (Monday) morning," Johnston said. "He managed to push open the doors, and then he decided to walk home. I live five miles out of town."
While the bus barn and the Bayfield School District Administration Building were right where the bus was parked, you can't expect a 5-year-old to know that, Zabel said, adding that the district has a checklist that includes walking through the bus to make sure it is empty.
"We messed up, there's no question," Zabel said. "The driver forgot to do it, and he has been disciplined."
The incident has led to a review of the checklist with drivers and the addition of a final step, he said.
"The new piece is to verify the checks have been completed," Zabel said. "Drivers will call Dispatch and do a 'post-flight' check-in.
Johnston is glad to hear it.
"Anyone who knows my child knows he'll fall asleep on the bus again," she said. "I don't want to have to call every day to see if he made it to school."
This was an unusual mistake on the driver's part, Zabel said.
"He's outstanding, just excellent," Zabel said. "In fact, he's our go-to driver when roads are bad or situations like that."
Max went to bed early Monday night, Johnston said, because he was pretty tired.
"And he loved being at the fire station," she said with a laugh.
abutler@durangoherald.com
