vs. ) CASE NO. 78-1686
Respondent. )
Pursuant to notice a hearing was held in the above styled case in Room 248, Conference Room 1, Broward County Courthouse, 201 SE 6th Street, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, beginning at 1:00 o'clock p.m. on January 30, 1979, before Delphene C. Strickland, Hearing Officer of the Division of Administrative Hearings.
For Petitioner: Stephen J. Press, Esquire
For Respondent: James T. Moore, Esquire
Whether the Petitioner, Bush, should have been terminated from his employment as a school bus driver.
l. Petitioner James Bush was employed as a bus driver by the Broward County School Board until May 17, 1978. Mr. Bush was notified by letter from Mr. Stan McCall, Director of Personnel, that his employment was terminated as of May 17, 1978, for unsatisfactory performance. Mr. Bush petitioned for an administrative hearing.
According to the testimony of Mrs. Teems, the South Area Supervisor of the Transportation Department of the Respondent School Board, she observed bus #165 while she was driving at about 10:30 a.m. on June 2, 1976. The operator of bus #165 was driving in an erratic manner and speeding. Mrs. Geraldine Thornton, the immediate supervisor of Petitioner, testified that James Bush was the driver of bus #165 on that day.
Mr. Sal Re, a School Board employee with the Department of Safety, testified that on September 7, 1977, bus #169 ran two stop signs without reducing speed by any perceptible degree. He said the driver was exceeding the speed limit by about five miles per hour. Mrs. Thornton testified that on that date bus #169 was operated by the Petitioner, James Bush.
Mrs. Muriel Taylor, a substitute teacher for Respondent, testified that on April 5, 1978, in the early afternoon, bus #208 almost caused a head-on collision by improperly merging lanes immediately in front of the vehicle Mrs. Taylor was operating. Mrs. Taylor testified that she wrote down the number of the bus and reported this incident to a school authority by reference to bus #208. Respondent's Exhibit "B," in the handwriting of Geraldine Thornton, and the testimony of Geraldine Thornton established that the assigned driver of bus #208 on the date of the incident was Petitioner.
Elizabeth Pearlman, a student assigned to ride Petitioner's bus, testified that she was returned to school after having passed her assigned bus stop without stopping, and that Petitioner Bush made her get off the bus at school at 6:10 p.m. without taking measures for her safety and welfare. Another student, Janis Kaden, substantiated the facts of the incident and testified that Miss Pearlman got off the bus at the school building, and the driver drove away.
An unauthorized passenger, student Willie Holmes, on May 16, 1978, boarded the bus operated by Petitioner Bus in the parking area immediately adjacent to the bus compound and traveled with Petitioner to at least one school before traveling the route with Mr. Bush to the school attended by Willie Holmes. Willie Holmes was not authorized to ride the bus with Mr. Bush and was not authorized to ride the bus with Mr. Bush on the route to one or more schools which the student did not attend.
It was established by the testimony of Lawrence Insel, Administrative Assistant at Karl High School, that Petitioner was uncooperative on the rainy afternoon of April 14, 1978, Petitioner blocked the bus loading area by improperly parking and caused noise and confusion, and caused the school children to run in the rain to board his bus and to board several other blocked buses. The Administrator talked with the Petitioner at the time, but the Petitioner refused to move. Mr. Insel also testified that the Petitioner had at one time refused, when requested, to go get a disabled bus.
Joseph Vargo, Principal at Coconut Creek Elementary School, testified that Petitioner would come into his office without asking to enter and use the office telephone, and that he had more problems with the school children than did the other drivers. Mr. Vargo also testified that, although he counseled with Petitioner, he was not able to help Petitioner relate better to the school children and to other school personnel.
Petitioner James Bush presented an evaluation to show that in April of 1978, he received an above-average evaluation.
Petitioner denied driving bus #165 on the date of Mrs. Muriel Taylor's report of improper driving of said bus. He testified that he had not driven on one of the streets on which Mr. Sal Re reported he had observed Petitioner driving. Mr. Re had reported that Petitioner had driven through two red lights on September 7, 1977, and had exceeded the speed limit.
Petitioner stated that Elizabeth Pearlman was argumentative, and that he went by her bus stop and returned her to school, which was about two miles from her bus stop. Petitioner said he reported the incident about 45 minutes later to the school personnel after he had left the student at the school. There was no evidence of the report. Petitioner stated he tried to keep order on his bus but the children were from time to time smoking, swearing, cursing
and falsely accusing him of using marijuana. Petitioner said he took candy from the children to keep the bus clean. He testified that "I don't hear you if you talk at me rather than talk to me."
Petitioner was furnished a copy of the Broward County School Bus Driver's Training Manual. Petitioner signed a statement of receipt of the manual and agreed to read it and abide by all instructions, laws, rules and regulations set forth therein. Included in the manual are rules and regulations governing the employment of bus drivers and instructions to be followed for the safety and welfare of bus riders.
After hearing the testimony of the various witnesses and of the Petitioner, and upon observing the demeanor of those testifying and examination of the evidence submitted, the Hearing Officer further finds:
That the witnesses for the Respondent, Broward County School Board, are truthful and dedicated to the safety and welfare of school children;
That some of the employees, including his immediate supervisor, have tried to counsel with Petitioner and help him during the period of his employment;
That Petitioner has been a problem to the school employees with whom he worked; that at times he was disrespectful to his supervisor and other employees; that he failed to fill out work sheets; that he failed on at least one occasion to report for work for several days without notice to the person in charge of school buses; that he failed to keep control of the children riding his bus and on at least one occasion failed to let a student off at her bus stop and intentionally returned her to school; that he failed at times to drive his bus in a safe and careful manner; and that he failed to do many of the necessary things to keep the work running smoothly, such as checking his mail box, returning keys, leaving a telephone number at which he could be located, and promptly and accurately making reports. His above-average evaluation appears to have been an effort to encourage a better performance.
CONCLUSIONS OF LAW
Section 230.23, Florida Statutes, provides a comprehensive outline of the powers and duties of a school board. Respondent, Broward County School Board, has followed the requirements of the foregoing statute in subject case.
Section 232.28(3) prohibits school bus drivers from putting a pupil off the bus at any stop other than the regular stop for that pupil without authorization of the parent or principal. Petitioner violated that statute inasmuch as he passed the regular stop of Elizabeth Pearlman and returned her to her school late in the afternoon after school. Whether he "put her off," or she "got off," is unimportant inasmuch as he failed to stop at her bus stop and intentionally drove back to the school and stopped so that she in fact got off the bus. Petitioner then drove away.
Petitioner has violated from time to time various traffic laws as set forth in Chapter 316, Florida Statutes, by his failure to stop for red lights, observe safe driving laws in changing lanes, and in exceeding speed limits. Sections 230.23(8) and (10), Florida Statutes, authorize school boards, upon recommendation of the superintendents, to adopt rules and regulations to ensure safety in the operation of school buses. Section 231.48, Florida Statutes, provides a school board with authority to make regulations governing absences of any personnel, including bus drivers.
Respondent, Broward County School Board, developed a manual and had provided a copy of said manual to Petitioner. Said manual provides clear instructions as to the responsibility of bus drivers in relation to the work, discipline of riders, discharge of students, and persons entitled to ride buses. Petitioner, James Bush, has failed to conscientiously abide by these instructions.
Section 230.23 Powers and duties of school board. --provides in part:
(5) PERSONNEL.--Designate positions to be filled, prescribe qualifications for those positions, and provide for the appointment, compensation, promotion, suspension, and dis- missal of employees...
Respondent has the authority to dismiss employees, including Petitioner James Bush.
Affirm the termination of Petitioner, James Bush, from his employment as a school bus driver.
DONE and ORDERED this 4th day of April, 1979, in Tallahassee, Leon County, Florida.
DELPHENE C. STRICKLAND
Division of Administrative Hearings Room 530, Carlton Building Tallahassee, Florida 32304
Stephen J. Press, Esquire Legal Aid Service of Broward County, Inc.
James T. Moore, Esquire 1265 NW 40th Avenue Lauderhill, Florida 33313
