A substitute school bus driver was fired after failing to drop off two students with special needs at school and leaving them alone on the bus at the Tooele County School District transportation yard located west of Salt Lake City, reported 2 KUTV News.
The incident occurred Aug. 24, when 7-year-old Winston Prawitt and another unidentified student remained on board the bus instead of being dropped off at Canyon Middle School, according to local news reports.
Transportation staff later located the bus at the district depot with both students inside. “The two boys were on that bus alone, parked in direct sunlight, for nearly 10 minutes,” Travis Prawitt, Winston’s father, said via the article.
Video footage reportedly showed Winston pounding on the bus windows. Winston has level two autism and was nonverbal until nearly age 5. His parents said his disability makes it difficult for him to provide a detailed account of what happened.
The district said via the news report that the substitute driver failed to follow required procedures for ensuring all students had exited the vehicle, before returning it to the bus garage. The driver, who reportedly had several years of school bus driving experience, was terminated.
According to the news report, district transportation staff have since reviewed bus-clearing procedures with all drivers. The assistant superintendent and transportation director also presented potential child-check enhancements to the Tooele County Board of Education Sept. 8.
The Prawitts said they were permitted to view only part of the bus surveillance footage and that it did not include audio. District officials said access must comply with student privacy laws because multiple students appear in the recording. The family said it would accept redacted footage but wants the complete record involving Winston.
Since the incident, Winston has reportedly experienced nightmares and anxiety and now checks whether his regular driver is operating the bus.
His parents are calling for a proposed “Winston’s Law” that would require enhanced child-check safeguards on Utah school buses. One possible system would require drivers to walk to the back of the bus and press a button after completing each route.
“Human error does happen in any profession,” Alaina Prawitt, Winston’s mother, told local news reporters. “Anything we can do to try and help human error not be a problem, such as putting an alarm on the bus or something to help check that things are getting done accurately, is what I would love to see. I just want this to never happen to another child.”
Written with the Assistance of AI.
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