Three-year-old left on Warsaw school bus for five hours, mom says

A 3-year-old was reportedly left on a Warsaw Community Schools bus for nearly five hours Wednesday.

The mother of the young child says her son is mostly non-verbal due to autism. Gloria Miller tells WNDU she assumed her son Dawson made it to Leesburg-Oswego Preschool on the Warsaw Community Schools bus, but later received a call that he never made it to school.

Shortly after being notified, Miller says someone found her son sleeping on the bus.

She says the school district apologized for the error. They also issued a statement Thursday:

 

Warsaw Community Schools utmost priority is to ensure the safety and security of our students. When proper policy and procedure is followed, the bus is inspected by the driver at the end of the route to ensure no student is left on the bus. This incident is currently being investigated and the substitute driver of the route has been suspended pending the completed investigation.

Dawson only rides the bus on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, but Miller tells WNDU she will be driving him to school this Friday to make sure nothing happens before winter break. She plans to send her son back on the bus when changes are made, or he has an aide to sit with him on the bus ride.