Photo by Roger Starkey

The bus driver who sat in the parking lot of a local business for over an hour Monday, refusing to drive Dorris Intermediate School students home, was placed back on the bus route Tuesday morning.

First Student, the bus service provider for Collinsville Unit 10, only removed the driver when contacted by the district, Superintendent Robert Green said. First Student informed Green that he had to request the driver be removed from the route, he said. Green requested the driver be removed from all Unit 10 bus driving assignments.

In a statement, First Student indicated that the driver is no longer employed by the company.

Dorris Intermediate School principal Matt Noyes was first informed of the incident late Monday afternoon by the parents of a student who was on the bus. Noyes provided the parents with contact information for First Student and called the company first thing Tuesday morning, he said.

“I know the bus company was involved Monday night, because I know there was a conversation between the driver and his manager that night,” Noyes said, noting that the company and Unit 10 have worked well together to address past issues. Because the drivers work for First Student, Unit 10 does not have control over the disciplinary actions taken by the company, Noyes said.

First Student declined to answer any questions about the incident or why the driver was allowed to return to the route Tuesday morning. A spokesperson for the company would only refer to an approved statement that read: “The safety and security of the students we transport to and from school each day is our core value. We take incidents such as this one very seriously. The driver involved is no longer employed by First Student.”

The incident is the third in as many years on buses in the district. A bus driver dropped off a kindergarten student at the wrong stop last fall. A Dorris Intermediate School student filmed an incident on a bus in February 2012 in which students fought, cursed and used racial slurs for nearly four minutes before the driver stopped the bus to intervene. The driver from the 2012 video is not the same driver involved in the incident Monday.

The contract with First Student includes a clause that allows the district, at the end of the current school year, to renew for two more years or put the transportation contract out for bid. The district “will take a hard look” at the contract, Green said.

The driver in the latest incident was upset with how the children were acting and pulled the bus over in a parking lot on the way home from school Monday evening. He refused to continue until the children’s behavior improved. The standoff lasted over an hour. During that time, some parents made contact with their children and came to get them from the parked bus. Other students were allowed to leave the bus to walk home. The bus later completed its route.

“We can’t tolerate that behavior, you’re putting kids at risk,” Green said. “There are other ways he could have handled it, he could have contacted the school, he could have contacted his supervisor.”

Buses used for Unit 10 are equipped with equipment to record video while they are transporting students. Noyes said it was his understanding that the bus used Monday night was a replacement bus and did not have the equipment and, therefore, there is no video of the incident available. First Student declined comment.

A First Student spokesperson said she could not comment on previous complaints received about the driver, calling the issue a human resources matter.