Tulsa Grandfather Seeks Answers After Child Was Left On Special Education Bus

A Tulsa grandparent wants answers after his grandson, a special education student, was left on the bus Friday. The family says this is the second time it’s happened, and their grandson already needs extra help getting to and from his class.

The student was riding the special education bus to Memorial Middle School. He enjoys taking the bus, but on Friday, he almost didn’t make it to class.

"He could have been left in the bus. Who knows, all day," said David Hindeman, Jackson's grandfather.

Hindeman's 14-year-old grandson Jackson is on the autism spectrum. He takes the special education bus to Memorial Middle School. Jackson also wears a tracker because he has a tendency to wander off.

“So I was watching that morning, and the bus got there to school, and then it started driving off. And normally, when the bus drives off, we don't see the tracker go with the bus. It goes with him, and he's in class, but all of a sudden, he starts going over to Memorial, South Memorial, and then he starts heading north on South Memorial. And we realized, uh oh, he's still on the bus," Hindeman explained.

Hindeman says this isn’t the first time this has happened, so he immediately called the school transportation department.

“I got on the phone and called the bus transportation people at the school. And while I was holding on the phone, the lady radioed the bus driver and said that he was still on the bus. The bus driver came back and said, ‘No, he's not. I dropped him off at school. He's not on the bus.’ And I was flabbergasted. I couldn't catch my breath, and I'm looking at him (the tracking on the phone), and here he is going north on Memorial on the map. And I said, ‘No, he's on the bus.’ And she paused for a minute, and then she said, ‘Oh, the driver checked, and he is on the bus. Sorry, we'll take him back,’” Hindeman said.

Tulsa Public Schools said, “Nothing is more important than protecting the safety of our children.” The district also said it realized the student was still on board before the phone call from the kid's grandfather.

But Hindeman says he was watching the tracker as the bus turned around.

“So he did make it okay, but if we hadn't had a tracker on, if we hadn't been watching, I really don't know what would happen,” Hindeman said.

The district also said they try to accommodate the safety needs of all their students. While they can't comment on the specific plans for one student, the beginning of the year is a time for finalizing and tightening up procedures to ensure the continued safety of all students.