Friday, March 24th, 2023
No charges against bus driver, aide who forgot child
By William Kincaid
CELINA - A bus driver and bus aide will not face criminal charges regarding an incident where a preschool student was mistakenly left unattended on a school bus for over three hours on March 15.
The Mercer County Prosecutor's Office made the announcement in a news release Thursday following a full investigation by the Celina Police Department.
"The Mercer County Prosector's Office has reviewed the totality of the investigation," the release reads. "The Prosector's Office is declining to pursue criminal charges against the individuals involved, as negligent conduct is insufficient to support charges under these facts and circumstances."
Prosector Erin Minor, who declined to provide the names of the individuals investigated, said under Ohio law the only crime that might have applied to the incident is endangering children.
"To pursue a charge under endangering children you have to be able to prove recklessness … the mental state of recklessness," she said. "We don't have that here. We have negligence. So that's why we declined to pursue any criminal charges against those involved."
Celina City Schools Superintendent Ken Schmiesing, who is leading an school investigation of the bus incident, said a pre-disciplinary meeting is scheduled today with the two employees, whom he also declined to name.
"They are still employed. They are on paid leave at this point," Schmiesing said Thursday afternoon. "It would be likely if there would be disciplinary action that it would come out at the board meeting."
The next regular school board meeting is 6 p.m. April 24 in the high school lecture hall.
On March 15, a preschool student was mistakenly left unattended on a school bus that had taken children to school, Schmiesing confirmed on Monday. He declined to comment on whether the student's teacher had inquired about their whereabouts when they didn't show up to class.
"The student was located by our assistant bus mechanic and did not show signs of injury," Schmiesing wrote in a news release last week. "Upon being notified that the student had been left on the bus, the bus driver and bus aide responsible for the student were relieved of their duties pending an investigation."
According to the district's administrative guideline manual, the driver must conduct a complete walk-through of the bus to verify that no student remains on the vehicle at the completion of each bus run.
Protocols are to be followed "when a bus is parked, and the driver is leaving the bus after students are on it," Schmiesing wrote in the release.
"Those procedures were not followed and the District will get to the bottom as to why, so that procedures can be put in place so that this does not occur again," he wrote. "The safety of our students is paramount."
Schmiesing on Monday addressed changes made in the aftermath of the incident.
"In the situation, what happened we used a different bus for doing our pick up than we did with our drop off so we're going to make sure that we use the same bus there," he said. "There's going to be more of a follow-up with phone calls checking on absenteeism in the classroom."
