FortBendNow.com

The Fort Bend ISD transportation supervisor dubbed the “bus barn bully” by some bus drivers is no longer employed by the school district.

FBISD Chief Communications Officer Mary Ann Simpson confirmed late Thursday that Transportation Operations Supervisor Dann Long was no longer an employee.

“Mr. Long is no longer employed with Fort Bend ISD,” Simpson said in an e-mail to FortBendNow.

Details about Long’s abrupt departure were not released.

Early Thursday, rumors began to circulate among transportation employees that Long had been terminated. Two district insiders told FortBendNow Long had given the choice of resigning or being terminated.

By policy, the school district does not comment on personnel matters and only confirmed that Long was no longer an employee.

A number of transportation employees had described Long as “hot-tempered.” They reported he routinely berated bus drivers and other employees, screaming at them with profanity-laced comments, earning him the “bus barn bully” nickname.

In an incident last August, Long assaulted bus driver Jack Richardson after dressing Richardson down for talking to another employee who was on traffic duty.

That incident was reported to police and landed Long in JP Joel Clouser’s court charged with “assault by contact.”

On Dec. 3, Long appeared before Clouser and agreed to a plea deal that placed him on deferred adjudication, a form of probation. The probation ends Feb. 25.

Long was also ordered to pay a fine.

In an interview late Thursday, Richardson said he hoped Long’s departure would result in an improved transportation department, but he remained concerned because the management that allowed Long’s behavior in the first place was still in charge.

He also said he hoped it also marked the end of retaliatory action against himself and other drivers and that the district would follow its own policies in the future.

“Fort Bend ISD policy exists to protect the children, teachers, drivers, personnel, administrators and the district itself from a lawsuit. Given the management that still exists over transportation, there’s no guarantee that assaults or harassment will cease,” Richardson said. “However, it’s very unlikely it will come from Dann Long.”

Prior to Long’s departure, Lake Olympia Transportation Terminal personnel told FortBendNow the assault on Richardson was not the first time Long had shown a short temper.

“It happens on a pretty regular basis. We all do our best to steer clear of him,” one employee said. “He yells; he uses profanity; he just acts like he’s ready to tee-off on you at any time.”

When Long’s deferred adjudication probation was about to end, a number of FIBSD transportation employees said they were concerned about what would happen once Long no long had the court monitoring his behavior, as well as why the school district has ignored their own policy about workplace violence.

The FBISD Transportation Handbook includes a series of conduct issues categorized as “failure to observe the following rules will result in immediate termination.”  The eighth item listed as conduct that will result in immediate termination is “Any attempt to injure another person.”

Despite the assault on Richardson and deferred judication action imposed by the JP court, no disciplinary action had been taken against Long, and he had remained in his same supervisory position from the time of the assault until this week’s departure.

FortBendNow agreed to protect the identities of certain Fort Bend ISD employees interviewed for this article because they felt if their names were known to district administrators, their jobs would be jeopardized.

Attempts to speak with Long and Torres were unsuccessful.