How are students kept safe?
Read more: Local, State, Education, School, Bus, Quincy, Mendon, Pikeland, Macomb
QUINCY, IL -- (Quincy, Ill.) A Quincy public schools bus driver has resigned after a four year old girl was left on a school bus earlier this week.
The girl was eventually found walking along 24th street near Monroe street in the rain.
She was supposed to be dropped off at the Early Childhood and Family Education center, but fell asleep and missed the stop.
The driver didn't see the little girl when he parked the bus along South 24th Street.
We spoke to Superintendent Lonny Lemon about the incident.
He says the driver was a good district employee, and this is the first time in 19 years this happened but the situation could not be overlooked.
Now some Quincy school buses are equipped with an alarm in the back of the bus a driver must turn off before exiting.
Lemon says the driver must have checked for students because the alarm on the bus the girl was left on had been turned off.
KHQA spoke with the girl's mother Thursday night. The mother said her daughter is okay but still a little frightened.
The mother also said the girl now is a little scared to go to school, because she's afraid she'll get lost again.
KHQA's Jarod Wells talked with the Director of Transportation for QPS to find out what security measures the district takes to keep students safe.
An alarm sounds if a bus driver does not check for students before getting off the bus.
"On the early childhood buses we do have a child safety check system, they are required to go back and hit a button before a bunch of sirens go off before they exit their bus," said QPS Director of Transportation Shane Barnes.
On buses without the safety check system, drivers are still required to walk back and check every seat, and have been for close to ten years.
"It's main goal is to make sure we don't leave any kids on the bus. It is inexcusable to have that happen," said Barnes.
All buses have also been equipped with two way radios for 20 years.
"There is always something that you can do better. We're not against anything. But we're looking to keep kids safe no matter what the cost. We are taking every precaution to assure that the bus is checked and children aren't left on the bus and we will continue to look at ways to do a better job," said Barnes.
It seems there is some confusion around the new Illinois law aimed at improving the safety of students on school buses.
Governor Pat Quinn signed the bill into law Wednesday, November 18th.
It requires all Illinois school bus drivers to inspect their buses after trips to make sure no students are left on the bus.
Buses also will have to be equipped with radios so drivers can receive alerts.
We spoke with a few school districts in Western Illinois that seemed to think this was already a law.
Quincy Public Schools Director of transportation Shane Barnes says he thought it already was required for drivers to check the bus.
Macomb, Mendon and Pikeland schools all say checking the bus for students is part of the required routine for drivers.
Everyone we spoke with said it may be new that buses are required to have two way radios.
But all the districts we contacted already have radios in all their buses.
