CLEVELAND - A Cleveland dad is furious after he says his 6-year-old son with special needs was left alone on a hot bus for more than four hours, according to WJW.
"After an hour and they couldn't tell me what was going on I started to get extremely worried," said Trevelle Hargrove Sr. "I couldn't understand why no one could tell me where my son was."
The Cleveland Metropolitan School District is investigating how his son, Trevelle, was left behind. The school bus driver was reassigned and could be terminated pending the outcome of the investigation, according to WJW.
A district spokesperson confirmed that a child fell asleep on the bus on Monday, the first day of school, but told WJW the child was on the bus for less than an hour.
Meanwhile, Hargrove said his son was not safely back at home until 6:30 p.m.
Hargrove said when Trevelle woke up and realized he was trapped, he started honking the horn to get attention. "Then they saw me jumping," Trevelle Jr. said, explaining how he was rescued.
"You have my son's life in your hands," said Hargrove. "You can't just forget to do things – this isn't like a normal job where you forget to put the straw in the bag or you forget to clock in or whatever ... you can't do that when it comes to kids."
Cleveland Metropolitan Schools Chief Communications Officer Roseann Canfora released the following statement:
"Drivers are trained to follow strict protocols for inspecting every seat at the beginning and end of their routes, and CMSD has a zero tolerance for any violation of these safety guidelines."
Hargrove said his son will not be riding the bus again anytime soon.
