Fla. schoolboy left sleeping on empty bus for hours, investigation underway

(CBS/WFOR) PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. - A Broward County school bus driver is being investigated after an elementary student was found sleeping on his bus, hours after the boy was supposed to be dropped off at school.

According to Broward County Public Schools spokeswoman Marsy Smith, the kindergartner in Dania Beach, Fla., whose name was not released, was picked up around 7:15 a.m. in Hollywood, and then driven to the school. After the other passengers got off there, the bus was driven to a county bus depot in Pembroke Pines, according to CBS affiliate WFOR.

Pembroke Pines police spokesman Sgt. Carlos Bermudez said the child apparently fell asleep on the bus and went unnoticed for hours.

It was only when the driver returned just after 1 p.m. to get ready for his afternoon route, that the child was found on the bus, WFOR reported. The driver notified district officials who alerted the authorities and the youngster's parents. The boy was checked out by Pembroke Pines paramedics before being released to his mother; he was fine.

Schools spokeswoman Smith said the district's policy is for the driver and the bus aid to check out their vehicle to make sure everyone has gotten off the bus before it proceeds to the depot, the station reported..

The incident is under investigation and Smith said it was too early to discuss what type of disciplinary action the driver could be facing.