Nonverbal child left locked in Auckland school van for hours

The Ministry of Education is urgently seeking answers after a nonverbal, autistic boy was left in a Ritchies van for hours.

By Penny Smith of RNZ

This comes as it launches a broader review into government-funded school transport for disabled students.

The 11-year-old boy was a student at a specialist school on Auckland's North Shore.

His parents, who asked to remain anonymous, said their son was collected for school by a Ritchies van just before 8.30am last Friday.

They said they received a text message from the school at around 11am, telling them that their son had been marked absent.

Thinking this was an error, they immediately contacted the school and were told that their son was missing.

They said that the school rang them just before 1pm, telling them that their son had been found inside the school van.

"We were subsequently informed by the school principal that the driver had failed to drop our son at school. Instead, after dropping off two other students at separate schools, the driver returned to his home while our son remained inside the vehicle."

The parents said that they rushed to the school and arrived just in time to watch the driver drop their son off.

They claimed the driver left without speaking to them or providing any explanation.

The boy's father said he didn't know where his son was between 9am and 1pm.

Speaking through tears, he told RNZ he was devastated as another autistic boy died after escaping from a school van in May.

"He was sitting there for four to five hours, with no one observing him. If it's true that he was in the van, he knows how to open the door. If he had run away from the van, we would have the same exact situation for our kid," he said.

The man said his child had significant communication needs and relied entirely on the adults responsible for his care and transport to keep him safe.

"We want to know the answers to what actually happened during this time, or if something really bad happened with our kid. We want this closure, we want to know what actually happened."

In a statement, the Ministry of Education said it was aware of the incident and had sought an urgent explanation from Ritchies.

Its acting group general manager for national services and programmes Andrea Williams said the ministry took the matter extremely seriously, particularly given the vulnerability of the student involved.

"Our immediate focus is on establishing exactly what occurred and making sure the right processes are being followed," she said.

Williams said the ministry was undertaking a review of Specialised School Transport Assistance as part of ongoing monitoring and continuous improvement.

"This review is not focused on individual providers or specific contracts. Instead, it looks at how transport is working in practice for students and families, including how services are delivered by all contracted providers, and whether standards are being followed consistently," she said.

Williams said that this included looking closely at roles and responsibilities, safety processes, and identifying any areas for improvement , particularly in relation to supporting students with additional needs during transport.

"We understand the importance of families having confidence that their child will be safely picked up, transported, and handed over at school," she said.

"Providers must meet clear safety and operational standards, including appropriate training, supervision, and accountability for students during every journey. These expectations apply at all times, and we actively monitor how services are operating.

"Our focus remains on maintaining those standards and addressing any issues identified through this process."

Ritchies was approached for comment.