Student often claim that getting up early and waiting for the bus stinks. For kids who use one particular Oklahoma bus stop, this complaint can be taken literally after four deer carcasses were found dangling over a fence near a Tulsa County school bus drop off. As the carcasses have been showing up randomly over the last month, residents close to the macabre scene have described the sight is offensive and gross. The local game warden speculated the quartet of dead deer was likely poached, the hunter hanging the carcasses in the manner that they were found to display as “trophies.” It is illegal to dispose of dead things this way, the game warden reported, and each carcass carries a $350 fine.
Soon bus drivers for a school district in upstate Indiana might lose the very benefits that drew them to the job in the first place, the drivers telling the school board to think carefully before executing the change. An insurance committee recommended an increase to the hours an employee must work from 20 to 30 hours for eligibility of extended benefits, a change that would impact bus drivers and food service employees the most. A memo provided by the insurance committee addressed the Affordable Care Act, which requires employers to provide medical benefits to employees who work 30 hours or more a week, and helps individuals obtain insurance through a health insurance marketplace. “An Elkhart Community Schools employee now has the opportunity to obtain guaranteed medical coverage, with plans that are comparable to the benefits available through the ECS benefit program, with the potential that subsidies can reduce the individual’s cost of coverage,” the memo reported.
An Iowa bus driver was arrested and booked for attacking a special needs student. What started with a testy exchange escalated to punches when a student with disabilities failed to heed the seating assignment and disregarded the driver’s demand to follow instructions. Witnesses claimed the student directed a nasty comment at the driver, but the remark didn’t warrant the resulting violence. The driver approached the student, grabbed him by the jacket and punched him in the face. He then threw the student to the ground. Videos of the incident show students screaming for the driver to stop the assault. “Christian was repeatedly saying, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry,’ and everyone else was telling the bus driver to stop,” said one student witness. The driver, who has been with the Des Moines district since the start of the school year, is currently being held pending bail of $3,000.
The decision to sack a New Jersey van driver came as no surprise after video emerged of her behind the wheel of an area school bus speeding down a parkway at 80 mph while she fiddled with her phone. “I feel like I’m going to get into an accident with the new driver,” a student aboard the bus texted to her mother. The driver was filmed snapping photos of a stuffed animal hat, texting and generally being distracted by her phone with the pedal to the metal.
