Bus driver suspended over sleeping student

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. (AP) - A Kirksville school bus driver has been suspended indefinitely after not noticing a first-grader who fell asleep on his bus and ended up walking along a road nine miles from school.

The child fell asleep on the way to school early last week. The bus driver who handles a rural route completed his rounds and drove the bus home to Novinger without doing a mandatory check for sleeping students.

The child eventually woke up, got out of the bus and began walking near Missouri Highway 6 in Novinger. A passer-by picked the child up and drove to the Novinger school, where it was discovered the student didn't belong there.

The student's father was called to pick up the child.