Driver debacle at charter school

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Only three of 10 drivers at a charter school had the credentials required to operate a school bus. The discovery was made after two of the drivers were stopped by police during a one-week period in mid-October. Major Dennis Lazenberry of Minnesota’s Department of Public Safety said the driver situation at Higher Ground Academy, which operates five school buses, was one of the worst he has seen in his four years in pupil transportation. “Sometimes one driver will slip through the cracks, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said. Lazenberry said the school’s transportation supervisor bore most of the responsibility for the situation. “She told her supervisors that everything was under control, and they trusted her,” he said. But the transportation supervisor took short cuts and ignored standard driver hiring policies. “She hired friends who she knew weren’t licensed,” Lazenberry said. In addition, the supervisor, who has been relieved of her duties, reportedly ordered a driver to cover his morning route on Thursday, Oct. 12, despite his insistence that he was incapable of driving. The driver, 55-year-old Toby Frederick Zeno, later was arrested by police on suspicion of driving while impaired. Lazenberry said Zeno’s school bus, carrying five passengers, was reported by other motorists for unsafe driving, including sideswiping a truck and careening across three highway lanes. “The children on the bus were trying to tell the driver to wake up,” Lazenberry said. “They were obviously frightened.” Zeno reportedly told police officers that he had been taking Valium, a prescription tranquilizer. On Oct. 13 he pleaded guilty to driving while intoxicated and is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 28. A week earlier, another school bus driver for the Higher Ground Academy was suspended without pay for driving without a proper license. The violation was discovered only after police pulled him over for speeding. Lazenberry said he met with the executive director of the 2-year-old charter school, which has about 430 students in grades K-10, and advised him “to get out of the transportation business.” Unfortunately, local contractors are overbooked and can’t handle the extra business. “So they’re stuck with their own operation,” Lazenberry said. He added, however, that the newly hired transportation supervisor seems to have a good attitude and is willing to do what has to be done to rebuild the transportation program. Last year, the academy contracted with St. Paul Public Schools for transportation service, but this year decided to try to run its own operation by hiring drivers as independent contractors.

Car barrels into kids at bus stop

EDMONDS, Wash. — A car ran off the road and struck eight of 15 students waiting at a bus stop, causing some serious injuries but no fatalities. Six girls and two boys were injured in the Oct. 16 incident. The most seriously injured student suffered two broken legs. Another student suffered a broken ankle, while another suffered a severe knee injury. “Here we have a group of kids standing on the sidewalk waiting for the bus like they’re supposed to, and a car barrels into them,” Andy Rogers, principal of College Place Middle School in Edmonds, told The Herald in Everett, Wash. The car was driven by a 16-year-old boy on his way to high school. He was questioned by police and released to his parents. An investigation is underway. The bus stop location, which was inspected by Rogers and the district’s transportation supervisor, appeared safe. “I didn’t see anything we would change,” Rogers told The Herald.

NHTSA recalls 4 million car seats

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has recalled approximately 4 million infant car seats/carriers manufactured by Century Products of Macedonia, Ohio. According to NHTSA officials, the seat handle can break unexpectedly, causing the infant inside the carrier to fall to the ground. Century has received more than 2,700 reports of handle-related problems, including handles breaking, cracking or possibly not being locked while the seat is being used as a carrier. The recall involves all Century rear-facing infant car seats/carriers with one-piece handles manufactured from January 1991 through July 1997. To receive a free replacement handle, call Century at (800) 865-1419 or visit Century’s Website.