A Parent's Nightmare: Griswold Student Left Sleeping on School Bus

Kekyona Wynkoop’s heart sank when she received a call from the Griswold Elementary School Monday asking where her son was.

Nahje Taylor, second-grader, travels from Hartford as part of the state’s school choice program and had been put on the bus at 7:40 a.m. with Wynkoop watching, according to a report from the Hartford Courant, but never arrived at class after leaning below the seat and falling asleep.

The whole situation seems like a mother’s worst nightmare and while drivers and bus monitors are taught to check the bus, Taylor was missed leading both to be suspended for failing to check after drop-off and leaving the child to be taken back to the bus yard in South Windsor.

“We transport a lot of students, and our drivers are trained to check their buses at the schools, and this driver did not follow that procedure,” said Cliff Gibson, CEO of Dattco, in a statement. “The driver has been suspended until the company completes an investigation.”

Dattco is the company hired to transport students that are enrolled in the Hartford area school choice program.

A bus monitor, hired by the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC) as they oversee transportation of school choice students, has also been suspended confirmed CREC staff on Wednesday. 

There is some good news. Taylor woke up when the schools called the bus company and was completely unharmed, never having spent any time alone on the bus. Julia M. Winer, spokeswoman for CREC, told the Hartford Courant that all policies would be under review.

There is good news here, however. The student was unharmed and never left on the bus alone after a call from the school alerted the driver prior to the bus being locked up. He has returned to class and is enjoying his time in Berlin.

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