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A lot of talking has been “stirring” these last several days concerning a situation that happened on a Magee School Bus. Errors were made…judgments questioned… below is the quote Megan Cowan Booth (mother of Mason and Braydon) posted on Face Book. (I am re posting with her permission)
“So I’m sure a lot of u may heard but y’all know I never complain about Magee schools but this is too much. So yesterday I get a phone call from Mason and Braydon telling me to come get them, that the bus driver had left them on the side of the road, but didn’t know where they were. 1st off she was on her phone the whole time in the video we watched.. I understand that the kids have an assigned seat. Mason came to the front of the bus to sit with Braydon because he was crying not wanting to sit by hisself so Mason took him to the middle of the bus to sit with him, which he should have never done. The bus driver then decides to stop the bus and tell mason to bring his brother back up front that the little kids can’t go to the back. So Mason sits there without getting up, when he should have gotten up and went back to the front. So the bus driver opens the doors and told them to get their ASS off. Then tried covering her butt by sending other kids off the bus to tell mason and Braydon to get back on, only to say they refused to get back on. Leaving them on the side the road.my child couldn’t even tell me where he was so I could pick them up had no idea what backroad he was on. Her punishment is 5 days suspension without pay and probation for the rest of the year. Nope not enough. No way she should be working for the school district after leaving a 6yr old and a 13 year old on the side of the road”
According to Principal Pete Howell his decision for 5-day suspension without pay and probation for the remainder of the year for the driver was following procedures in past cases. Mr. Howell must follow procedures in place…if additional action is taken in the case of the bus driver, the punishment will come from the Simpson County Office.
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Do you feel the punishment was adequate? Comment on this article
NO, that is not enough!!!!! She should have been fired on the spot!!!! Let that happen to your children and you tell me if this action was enough?!? I think not!!!
I do not think the bus driver has the authority to kick children off the bus without contacting the parents first. I also think that the children need to be punished for their part in this situation.
Beleive me those kids have had their punishment but I think the is more about the punishment of the bus driver don’t u think? What it sounds like!!
Sounds like child endangerment to me which is criminal. But from many past experiences we cannot depend on the Simpson County School administration to do anything about the situation.
There is nothing ok about that decision. That is why the school gives bus drivers the authority to write a child up. NOT to kick a child off the bus. What if these children were kidnapped or worse? Who would’ve been liable? The school? The driver? There would have been a lot of legal issues there. NO MATTEL WHAT A CHILD DOES ON A BUS ( as long as it stays within the law guns/drugs ) there is no exception for having them removed. None! How are parents suppose to trust that their children will reach their destination safely? This is a disgrace to this county & the hard work of making magee a better place.
Any other adult who had done this would have immediately been arrested for child endangerment, neglect, abandonment, who knows what…what gives this bus driver the authority to act outside of the law? These are kids, not criminals. It doesnt matter what they did- she had every responsibility to get them back on the bus, and if their behavior was so terrible she could have turned it right around and taken the bus back to the school for her supervisor to handle. If she isnt arrested at the very least, its plain irresponsible. I know the administration has to act within their limits and procedures, but Megan has every right to press charges, as does the administration. Why isnt this happening? There are plenty of positive things happening in Magee Schools but if the negatives arent addressed all of that will be overshadowed.
this is not the first time things has happen that should not have happen , when my son was in kindergarden he was missing for 2 hours and no one bothered to call me , Thank God he was found and was safe , then not too long after that my friends child was paddled and left a bruise all the way across her little butt , nothing was done about either of these matters , now two kids get left beside the road and nothing more done about it is wrong , if she was talking on her phone the whole time then she should have called the school and and explained the situation to them and not drove off and left the kids , thank God they were safe but this day and time it could have not ended well we trust the school system with our kids and this is what happens
So she does this again and a kid gets killed or kidnapped? Suspension still good enough? I’d take this to the dept of education or the police for child endangerment. Suspension is NOT enough.
Years ago a child arrived at my house I did not know what happened to her. I called the police because I did not know she had been hurt or what. I finally got to the bottom of the story. It turns out she had fell asleep on the bus as it was taking her to elementary school that morning. The bus driver never checked the bus so he never saw her sleeping on the bus. The bus was parked in magee school bus lot. She made it to my house at 2;00. So basically she had been sleeping on a hot bus all day. The police took her to school where she was sent to class and had no bathroom or food all day. I did offer her food and bathroom before the police came but she was so scared. I also found out the school never notified the girl told her parents that night. I know this because they came to thank me that very night. So Megan your story does not surprise me