HOXIE, Kan.(KWCH/Gray News) – A family in Kansas searched for answers after a 5-year-old boy was left alone on a school bus for several hours.

Hoxie School District confirmed the incident occurred on October 28.

A few weeks later, Leta Meitl, the 5-year-old boy’s grandmother, still has unanswered questions.

Meitl said her grandson, who was in kindergarten, got on the bus that morning and fell asleep during the ride. The bus driver, who was unaware that the child had not gotten off the bus, set out for his home after completing the route.

“How can this be?” said Meitl. “You count three (children) as you get off the bus. You count three as you get on the bus. “This is not rocket science.”

The kindergarten student woke up hours later in the bus driver’s driveway.

Meitl said she cried over this situation.

“I kept wondering what was going on in his little mind,” she said.

Six hours later, the bus driver noticed that the child was still on the bus.

Meitl said she was relieved that the weather was mild that day. She was worried that her grandson might suffer heat exhaustion or freeze if the temperature was extreme.

He said that bus drivers should definitely check their buses at the end of the day and at the end of the shift.

“It takes less than 10 seconds to walk to the back and front of the bus,” Meitl said.

In a statement to KWCH on Thursday, the Hoxie School District confirmed that the bus driver is no longer employed by the district.

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