A Klamath Falls woman is outraged that her 11 year old son with autism was left along in a county school bus for over 7 hours.
Orrin Palmer wasn’t let off at Stearns School last Tuesday morning…And wound up spending over 7 hours alone in a school bus.
“I was outraged.” Says Tera Kinnan, Orrin’s mother. “I was crying, first of all, and then I was just mad. You know, how could this happen”
Klamath County Schools Superintendent Greg Thede wants to know how it could have happened, too…
“My initial reaction was shock, that this could happen.”
Orrin Palmer has a mild to moderate form of autism. His Mom says Orrin was upset by the ordeal…
“He said he was hungry, that he had to use the bathroom, the door was locked. I imagine it was a pretty hard thing for him.”
Tera Kinnan says she doesn’t intend to take any legal action at this time…
“No, I’m not – I’m just hoping to raise awareness about this, so hopefully, things can change. So that this doesn’t happen again, doesn’t happen to any other children.”
The Superintendent says he wants to know why the school didn’t notice Orrin was missing, and why the bus wasn’t checked before it was parked at the bus barn.
“I offer no excuses.” Says Superintendent Thede. “This should not have happened, and again, will not happen again.”
But for now, Orrin says he doesn’t want to ride the school bus anymore…So his Mom is driving him to school for the near future.
While Orrin was upset after being left alone on the bus, he was okay and didn’t require any medical treatment.
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