Bus driver who left 5-year-old in garage for hours now suspended until Sept.
Luke Keshane left on Saulteaux First Nation for hours, mother still angry
The Saulteaux First Nation, Sask., has extended the suspension of a bus driver who accidentally left a five-year-old boy in a locked garage for seven hours.
Last week, Luke Keshane fell asleep on his way to school on the First Nation. When he woke up, he was locked in an unheated garage and wasn't discovered until bus drivers came to drive children home from school.
Keshane's mother, Carolyn Moccasin, said he was put in danger and exposed to temperatures that hit -18 C that day.
If bus drivers are that careless to not check if there's anybody on the bus, then they shouldn't even drive.- Carolyn Moccasin
The First Nation made the decision to suspend the driver for the rest of the school year after meeting with the school's superintendent and principal. Originally, the driver was given a three-day suspension.
However, Moccasin is still not satisfied. She wants to make sure the driver never brings children to school again.
"If bus drivers are that careless to not check if there's anybody on the bus, then they shouldn't even drive," she said.
Children pulled from school
Meanwhile, Moccasin said her son is still dealing with the effects of being left in the garage.
"He'll just start crying," she said. "I think he's still a bit traumatized."
She has pulled her children from the school, and drives them to another First Nation, where she is a teacher.
Saulteaux First Nation, meanwhile, is beefing up its policies on everything from drivers double-checking their buses, to improving communication between schools and caregivers when students are absent.
Moccasin wants every school in the country to treat the issue seriously and review their policies to make sure this doesn't happen to another child.
"I hope it happens everywhere in Canada," she said. "Busing issues are serious."