School Bus Driver Fired for Skipping Students’ Stops

HUNTSVILLE, Ala. — A school bus driver here has been fired after admitting to skipping students' bus stops due to disruptive behavior, WHNT reports.

James Akins, the general manager for Apple Bus Co., announced at a Huntsville City Schools board meeting on Monday that the driver had been permanently removed because he "failed to follow the correct protocol," and demonstrated "poor student management and controlling kids on the bus, and even deviating from the route,” according to the news source.

Police told WHNT that on March 16 the driver pulled over on Sparkman Dr. near Pulaski Pike and called the police to get help. Video of the incident on social media shows the elementary school students on board attempting to explain to parents that the driver had tried to kidnap them, according to the news source, but police later said that they believe those claims were exaggerated.

Akins told the school board at the meeting, according to WHNT, that there were four cameras on the bus and that the company assessed each video of the incident multiple times. He confirmed that the driver did skip his first few stops because of the students’ disruptive behavior, and that he did make inappropriate comments, but did not have any intentions of dropping students off at any other place than their assigned stops, the news source reports.

School board members at the meeting agreed that the termination was necessary, and advised Apple Bus Co. to review its disciplinary policies with its bus drivers, WHNT reports. Board members also urged parents to talk to their children about appropriate behavior when riding the bus, according to the news source.