Bus driver, aide fired for leaving Cottage Grove students in van

Two Cottage Grove middle schoolers were left alone recently in a nine-passenger van.

Both the bus driver and bus aide responsible for the incident were fired and the bus company said a new team had been assigned “to provide safe transportation and proper service” on the route.

“We were horrified and dismayed to learn that a bus driver and a bus aide from Big River Bus Company, an independent contractor, left two district students sitting in a bus company vehicle at the end of their morning shift,” South Washington County Schools said in a statement.

At 7:37 a.m. Sept. 22, the van belonging to the Big River Bus Company dropped four students off at Oltman Middle School. Two children, however, were left in the vehicle.

The van, which had both an adult driver and a bus aide, then left for