Regarding The Forum of Oct. 5:
"After boy left on bus, school looks at policy":
This has happened before and we think it should be reported. Our hope is that it does not ever happen again as it could be tragic.
Our son, Rick, lived in the Moorhead Group Home from 1980 until he died in 2005, because he was born with a developmental disability and needed continuous care.
On Sept. 14, 1990, Rick was picked up for work like any other day. Unfortunately, that day wasn't like any other day as he was later left on a Richards Transportation bus for seven hours, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. When Rick did not come home from work the group home operated by Clay County Residence, now known as Creative Care for Reaching Independence, called his work site to find out where he was. It was reported that the Richards Transportation Service driver found him and returned him to his work program, Developmental Services Inc.
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That morning Richards Transportation picked Rick up from home and transported him to work as the DSI van was not working. When he arrived at work, he was supposed to have been transferred to the then-fixed van for transportation to a work site in Fargo. Rick did not exit the bus and was not found until afternoon, when the worker from Richards Transportation moved the bus for the night.
Matt and Zona Mathison, Moorhead, letter: Boy left on the bus has happened before 20071121
