Abandoned 6-year-old escapes locked school bus

Abandoned 6-year-old escapes locked school bus

A 6-year-old boy said he had to jump out of a school bus window Wednesday after falling asleep and being left behind. First-grader Tevin Smith said he fell asleep during the ride home from Estabrook Elementary in Ypsilanti, Michigan and woke up to find the bus parked in a bus yard. Smith said he tried calling for help, but when no one came, he was forced to try and get out. "I pushed the button down but the door wouldn't open. So, I got on the bus driver seat and jumped out the window," he said. Smith's mother, Kelissa Bass, said she's outraged. She said her son is usually home by 4 p.m. every day, but that Wednesday he wasn't discovered by an employee at the bus yard until after 6 p.m. "What if we never would have found out where he was? Or he would have jumped out the window and broke his leg? Or he would have walking across the yard and someone kidnapped and killed him?" Bass said. Bass said she's blaming the bus driver. "You should know who gets on your bus, where they get off and when they get off," she said. A representative for the school district said the bus driver has been suspended without pay and issued this statement: "There will be an internal investigation and we'll see what the outcome is of that. It appears protocol was not followed." Bass also said this isn't the first time her son has been left on the school bus. She said a similar incident occurred in December, and that she was promised by school officials that it wouldn't happen again.