On Wednesday evening, Omaha Public Schools was informed that a 5-year-old-student from Field Club Elementary School had not arrived home as of 6:00 p.m.
OPS immediately began working with its Student Transportation team, the Eastern Nebraska Community Action Partnership (ENCAP), administrators from the OPS Central Office, the Omaha Police Department and the student’s family to try and locate the student.
Ultimately, the student was found safe on the small contracted bus.
The driver was cited by the OPD and has been placed on administrative leave by ENCAP, pending the completion of their full investigation as his employer.
OPS has also made ENCAP aware that this particular driver will not be allowed to transport any OPS students in the future.
An emergency meeting was then scheduled for Thursday afternoon with ENCAP to talk about what happened and why, as well as ways to prevent this situation from happening again in the future.
OPS Superintendent Mark Evans discussed steps that should be taken to help avoid this type of issue in the future.
One item suggested includes retraining drivers to remind them of the importance of following OPS’ procedures and protocols.
The group also talked about putting a plan together that incorporates the use of bus aids to help ensure that all students have exited buses before drivers return to base.
Evans said OPS is committed to taking the appropriate steps to ensure that this does not happen again.
He expressed his thanks to the Omaha Police Department for their prompt response in assisting with the issue and met with the student’s family to extend his apologies and offer additional support.
At the meeting, Evans thanked the drivers who transport OPS students daily without incident. He said, “We have many drivers who do their job with excellence and passion every day, and we appreciate that.”