SOUTH BEND — A female Jackson Intermediate Center student was left on a school bus Tuesday morning, the third such incident reported this year in the South Bend Community School Corp.

The middle schooler was left on the bus when the driver dropped students off, superintendent James Kapsa said Wednesday. It is unclear how long it took for the driver to notice the student before the driver returned her to the school.

Kapsa said initial reports are that the student did not get off the bus with her brother and may have fallen asleep.

"We’re investigating how long it took before the driver found out," Kapsa said. "We’re interviewing the driver (today) as well as talking to the mother."

The corporation’s director of transportation was at Jackson Wednesday morning investigating, Kapsa said.

Kapsa, who did not know the identity or grade of the student, said he hopes to have more information later in the day.

The most recent occurrence comes on the heels of two previous incidents in which kindergartners were left on buses.

On Oct. 14, a Hay Primary Center kindergarten student was left on a bus instead of being dropped off at the school for afternoon kindergarten class. After leaving the school, the driver stopped at a nearby gas station and noticed the student standing outside the vehicle upon returning to the bus. The driver did not report the incident.

And in early September, a Kennedy Primary Academy student was left on a bus and discovered after the driver had left the vehicle at the corporation’s bus lot. That student was also found outside the bus and then returned to school without the transportation department’s knowledge. It was the mother in that case also who notified the school corporation.

Check back later for updates to this story.

Staff writer Tom Moor:
tmoor@sbtinfo.com
(574) 235-6555