Posted on 12/15/2007 6:18:18 PM PST by fight_truth_decay
"I rolled my window down and asked what happened. They said the bus driver apparently swore at them, took off and left the bus."
ROCHESTER, N.H. -- More than two dozen schoolchildren were left in their bus when the bus driver pulled over and walked away earlier this week, police said.
Investigators said John Dexter, 43, of Dover, N.H., abandoned the bus Wednesday on Norway Plains Road in Rochester. Parents said they were outraged to learn that their middle- and high-school children were left on the bus.
"I was coming from work, and as I pulled down the street, there was a school bus parked in the middle of the street," said Julie Mangold, whose son rides the bus. "I rolled my window down and asked what happened. They said the bus driver apparently swore at them, took off and left the bus."
A student on the bus called her mother, who then called police. Those near where the bus was left said it was a stressful scene.
"I just drove by, and some woman was asking where her kid was, and I didn't know," said Joe Russell, who works in the area. "The bus was abandoned. It had been there for 45 minutes or so. That's about all I saw. A lady was just looking around. She drove up and down the street a couple of times, and she said all the kids were missing.
Superintendent Michael Hopkins said another bus eventually picked up the students. He said behavior has been an issue on the bus, and on the day the driver left, one student threw an ice ball at another.
"I think he was just frustrated and didn't know how to handle it," Hopkins said. "There was some misbehavior on the bus, and it just wasn't going as well as it should. He didn't handle that too well."
The school said the driver is no longer working, but parents said that's of little comfort.
"Anything could have happened," Mangold said. "God knows what they could have done to the bus."
No one answered at Dexter's home on Friday.
The private bus company said that up until Wednesday's incident, Dexter was one of its best drivers. Police have not filed any charges but said the investigation is ongoing.
Sort of gives new meaning to NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND!
Wonder if this kids will be kids "ice ball" incident got the driver instead?
Dexter said best bus driver the company ever had.
Principal cites ongoing disobedience on the bus.
Why do I tend to side with the bus driver on this story with my still limited knowledge of the incident?
Who's side are you on?
Bus Driver?
Parents?
Kids?
or
Bush's Fault?
You can never go wrong blaming Bush.
OOps left out:
Global Warming!
I’m siding with the bus driver.
I remember some of kids that grew up to drive schoolbuses...scary. They were barely in their twenties; some real stoners. Wonder if they had side businesses going.
Parents? They're never at faul, are they?
Kids? Aww, the sweet lil' darlin's, how can you THINK such a thing?
or Bush's Fault DING DING DING!! A winnah every time!
LOL! What a parent!
Seats with low power voltage prongs built into them.
When I was in HS, (HS) seniors drove the buses and kept them at home at night.
I’m torn here. If I had a good kid that was on that bus I would have lost my mind but, I also know what kids are like now so I can’t completely fault the bus driver.
The kid drivers installed am radios with multiple speakers and played R&R music. I don’t remember much in the way of behavior issues.
Bus driver,,,1,000,000
Kids,,,0
Don’t know,,,1
If something, anything, goes wrong no matter how innocent, you're not only looking at lawsuits from the parents, you could be looking at a prison sentence longer than your life expectancy.
Stay safe and let the parents mind their own.
[When I was in HS, (HS) seniors drove the buses and kept them at home at night.]
Poo. You had a horse drawn carriage and you had to feed the horse and clean his stall!
NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND!
No Chunk Lobbers Bussed!
“Anything could have happened,” Mangold said. “God knows what they could have done to the bus.”
I guess she knows her kids too well.
The bus driver probably left because he knew if he stayed he’d kill someone.
Smart move on his part.
This guy does: "I am terrified of School Buses..... In certain instances. I hate driving on the road and pulling up next to School buses at a light. I still remember riding the bus to school and looking out the window and making fun of the people in cars around me. I hate thinking that a bus full of kids is making fun of me. Second, I rode the bus with some terrible kids, I’ve seen them throw combination locks, pens, etc. out the window at cars and saw one guy break a windshield with a well tossed master lock. I don’t know what I would do if a lock hit my car. Do you get out? Do you just keep driving? This, like many things in my life is driven by intense insecurity.
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