4-year-old special needs student left in CVUSD vehicle for hours, district responds
Officials at Coachella Valley Unified School District responded to questions Wednesday about a special needs student left in a school vehicle Monday.
The student, a 4-year-old boy, was taken to a local hospital to be checked out and was “medically cleared” after the evaluation.
In a written statement provided to News Channel 3, CVUSD’s Assistant Superintendent of Business Services Erik Lee said “The District was made aware that an elementary aged student was picked up for school by a district driver but was not dropped off at a District school site,” said Lee.
The driver of the vehicle, who was described as a longtime employee, was placed on administrative leave. The driver agreed to a blood test, said Lee.
Lee said the special needs student was the only child to be picked up by the driver that morning and should have been transported to John Kelley Elementary School in Thermal. The child was discovered still strapped into his carseat, by another driver who arrived to the vehicle for their shift.
Lee described the vehicle was a CVUSD white Ford Explorer.
According to the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department, deputies responded to a report of an unattended child in a vehicle at 5 p.m. on May 20. After investigating, it was determined that the child had been in the vehicle for a “substantial length of time” according to the Sheriff’s Department news release.
Parents expressed concern for the child’s safety, saying the unusually cool weather this year may have saved his life.
Lee did not specify how many hours the child was in the car unattended.
A mandatory child check for school districts was supposed to be implemented in California for the 2018-2019 school year as the Paul Lee law.
Lee said CVUSD received an extension and that 30 percent of the district’s fleet have the required technology.
In September 2014, an 11-year-old special needs student was left on a CVUSD bus. Watch and read our previous reporting on the incident below:
Special needs child left on school bus Newly released video shows boy with autism left on school bus in Coachella, crying for help Bus driver who found child left on bus speaks out
