ALBANY, Ore. — An Albany, Ore., woman says she suffered “a parent’s worst nightmare” after a school called to inquire whether her 9-year-old autistic son was coming to class.
The Oregonian reports that Ashlee Ellefson’s son Lyfe Ellefson-Hamar was found alone on a school bus Tuesday, still wearing his seat belt.
A Greater Albany Public School District spokesman says the boy spent nearly an hour in the empty bus garage before a district employee tracked him down once officials at Timber Ridge School determined that the third-grader wasn’t still at home.
District spokesman Jim Haggart says a special needs bus driver had failed to check for students before he left the bus. The spokesman says the driver has been placed on administrative leave while the case is investigated. Haggart apologized on behalf of the district.
