Bus driver fired, parents upset after autistic child was left on bus

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Fulton County parents told FOX 5 News they experienced their worst nightmare when they couldn't find their autistic son, 3, for more than an hour.

Moriah Walker and Philip Brooks said their son was left on a school bus after the driver picked him up Tuesday from Heards Ferry Elementary. The parents waited on the child at his bus stop. They knew something was wrong when he didn't show up on time.

App users: Click here to watch video report

Walker said she called the child's teacher and the district's transportation department. To her surprise, Walker said no one knew where the child was.

"It was scary." she said. "He was like, 'I don't know where he is. The computer is down so we cannot track the bus or get in contact with the bus.' So, I was like where is my son?"

The parents told FOX 5 News the child was left alone on the bus for at least an hour.

FOX 5's Marissa Mitchell reached out to the district's spokesperson. Officials said its protocol for bus drivers to check the entire bus when they enter or leave the vehicle. But the bus driver didn't follow protocol in this case. The school system terminated the employee.

A statement from the school spokesperson goes on to say: "When the parent alerted us of her son's lateness, our transportation staff were able to immediately locate the bus using our GPS tracking system. The bus was located in our north transportation bus facility and the student was found asleep on a seat. Our investigation so far indicates that he was alone on the bus no more than 15 minutes and was unharmed."