No charges have been filed “as yet” against a Fort Bend Independent School District bus driver who apparently drove off with a few dozen students on Friday – but didn’t let them off at their homes.
District spokeswoman Mary Ann Simpson said she spoke to Fort Bend ISD Police Chief J.L. Campbell on Tuesday, who told her the investigation into the incident is continuing and “no charges have been filed as yet” against the woman.
The bus driver, whom the district has declined to identify, is not being held. She has resigned from her job with the district.
According to information released by the district on Monday, the driver left Crockett Middle School at 4:10 p.m. Friday with a load of students.
However, “rather than taking the route to deliver students to their homes, the bus driver, for an unknown reason, drove off route and did not stop the bus until the bus arrived at the intersection of FM 1464 and the West Park Toll Road, at approximately 5 p.m.,” the district said in a statement.
Some students on the bus used cell phones to call their parents and tell them what was going on, the district spokeswoman said.
A letter from Crockett’s principal to parents indicated Fort Bend ISD police were called at about 4:30 p.m. from the transportation department, saying students on the bus in question were “being disruptive” in the Twin Oaks subdivision.
“Shortly afterward, the Fort Bend ISD Police received calls from several parents who were being contacted by their children who told the parents that the bus driver was not following the correct bus route,” the letter said.
District officials have said they don’t know why the driver took the action she did. They also said no children were injured during the unscheduled trip, although some may have exited the bus from a rear door when it slowed down or stopped along the way.
On Tuesday, Simpson said police intended to interview every child who had been aboard the bus during the incident.
But the investigation had been slowed somewhat because some of those students now are taking Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills tests.
What gives the district the right to withhold the bus driver’s name??