Student allegedly left alone at store

Three Bertie County teachers have been suspended without pay after a parent alleges his son was kicked off a school and left alone at a convenience store.

[Va Beach Mom]

As a bus driver myself, I would have never allowed for this to happen. If the child is fighting, you pick up the bus radio and call for police assistance. There is also something called a cell phone. Most people have them. If not, what was wrong with calling the police or school offical to pick the child up from the convenience store?

[Va Beach Mom]

Instead of leaving, you stay and wait with the child until someone comes!
It does sound like the child could use a butt woopin' though.

[David]

Suspended??? They were only suspended????......thats all??? They should be fired!!!!!..... and why werent they????? If it were my child, I would accept nothing less.

[David]

Va Beach Mom wrote:

As a bus driver myself, I would have never allowed for this to happen. If the child is fighting, you pick up the bus radio and call for police assistance. There is also something called a cell phone. Most people have them. If not, what was wrong with calling the police or school offical to pick the child up from the convenience store?

You have a very valid point. I do wonder what the bus driver's role in this is. However, being they were on a field trip, the teachers do have authority over the driver in this case. Thats why he/she was not mentioned. That is a unanswered question there. As it was already stated, there is legal action going to come towards the school from the parent.

[Va Beach Mom]

David wrote:

<quoted text>
You have a very valid point. I do wonder what the bus driver's role in this is. However, being they were on a field trip, the teachers do have authority over the driver in this case. Thats why he/she was not mentioned. That is a unanswered question there. As it was already stated, there is legal action going to come towards the school from the parent.

Thank you. I have driven many field trips for VB. There have been many times where they have been short on parents, and have put the bus drivers in charge of some childeren. As a mother of two, I would be very upset with the bus driver too.

[Laura]

I don't care if this child was the devil himself, he should NOT have been left alone...PERIOD. And I would be upset with the bus driver as well as the teachers, and they should ALL be given pink slips! You are talking about a HUMAN BEING...no matter if he started the fight, how it happened, how it ended, it doesn't matter! NO child should EVER be dumped anywhere at anytime!!! I hope the parents sue the school and the teachers involved, and include the bus driver!

Why didn't someone stay with the student? The bus driver shouldn't have allowed this to happen! He/she DOES have a say as to what happens on their bus! The driver is just as responsible!

This is unthinkable!

[Melissa Anne]

This sort of thing seems to be happening more and more, here lately. I don't understand a teacher believing that it's okay to drop a child off at a convenience store, or a bus driver who doesn't walk down the aisle of the bus to verify there are no kids prior to leaving it parked in a parking lot for the day, or a bus driver who blatently ignores information given to her and drops off an autistic child who has limited speech abilities at a closed after-school facility. If you aren't willing to take the responsibility, step down and let someone who is have the job! There are too many people right now looking for jobs!

[Lulu]

If the fight were bad enough to remove the child from the bus, then why didn't one of the teachers stay with the child??

It makes no sense that they would leave a child, and I feel that the bus driver should have had enough sense to call his/her superiors to be told how to handle the children on that person's bus!

So from my perspective the bus driver was just as responsible for all persons riding that bus and the teachers were acting as chaperones. But all adults in this situation were responsible for that childs safety.

[Jamie]

This is typical of the bus rides in Bertie County. My daughter attended school there last year and there were multiple incidents on the bus that were unbelievable. I personally went to BMS with complaints about the bus seven times, with no results. My daughter sat two seates behind the driver and was beat by two male students. The bus was never stopped, the boys were never suspended. The video camera was conveniently "broke" on that particular day. Needless to say, my child will never attend school in that county again.

[Va Beach Mom]

Jamie wrote:

This is typical of the bus rides in Bertie County. My daughter attended school there last year and there were multiple incidents on the bus that were unbelievable. I personally went to BMS with complaints about the bus seven times, with no results. My daughter sat two seates behind the driver and was beat by two male students. The bus was never stopped, the boys were never suspended. The video camera was conveniently "broke" on that particular day. Needless to say, my child will never attend school in that county again.

I am sorry that all this has happened. The only thing I can say in the drivers defense is about the VCR.In some buses, like mine, the only place to put the VCR is under the first seat behind the driver. It is placed there because of limited space and wiring. Mine is always breaking because the kids kick at it, or pull it open.It is in a metal box with a lock, but they still get to them. It is sometimes hard to see everything the kids are doing while you drive down the road. Two boys beating your daughter and the driver doing nothing is outragous!. Again, I apologize for that drivers behavior.

[Jamie]

Va Beach Mom wrote:

<quoted text>
I am sorry that all this has happened. The only thing I can say in the drivers defense is about the VCR.In some buses, like mine, the only place to put the VCR is under the first seat behind the driver. It is placed there because of limited space and wiring. Mine is always breaking because the kids kick at it, or pull it open.It is in a metal box with a lock, but they still get to them. It is sometimes hard to see everything the kids are doing while you drive down the road. Two boys beating your daughter and the driver doing nothing is outragous!. Again, I apologize for that drivers behavior.

I know that things happen to the equipment on the bus, but when it is broken EVERY time something happens on the buses down there, something just isn't right. My daughter has had the most outstanding bus drivers everywhere but Bertie County. I have a ton of appreciation for bus drivers. The courage to put that many childrens lives in your hands says enough for itself. For those drivers out there that go above and beyond, "thank you", and for those of you who are just trying to do as little as possible to get a paycheck, you are in the wrong field! I hope the family of the child in Bertie carries this situation to the extreme, as I should have last year when my child was the victim of carelessness.

[David]

Va Beach Mom wrote:

<quoted text>
Thank you. I have driven many field trips for VB. There have been many times where they have been short on parents, and have put the bus drivers in charge of some childeren. As a mother of two, I would be very upset with the bus driver too.

Something else that I thought of today. Being the teachers did this, not only should they be fired as I stated previously, they should also have criminal charges brought against them by the State of N.C. They abandoned a minor child that was in school custody at the time.

[Stephen]

Obviously not too many people are familiar with Bertie County Schools. If i was a bus driver there, to keep myself safe- i may have done the same thing. Plus there are only a few convience stores in Windsor- for the punishment to start with waiting at a convience store till the mom shows up (sounds ok to me)... (keep in mind Bertie County is pretty rough)

[sushi chef]

better the driver had thrown the worthless piece of crap off the bus and then ran it over. let the parents keep the vermin at home, in a cage. its a shame the state cant euthanize scum such as this.

[grapegrower]

dumbasses southerners...not all..only the people involved here...