MENTOR, Ohio — A Mentor Public Schools bus driver was fired after questions arose as to whether or not she was driving students while impaired on April 5; no charges have been filed.
Mentor Police are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding a bus driver who was possibly under the influence of alcohol while transporting high school students.
One of the bus driver's coworkers came forward with their concerns about the driver, leading to police being called to the Hopkins Road garage on the morning of April 5.
The school district sent the following email out to parents on Thursday, alerting them that the bus driver is no longer employed by the district after the incident:
A district employee noticed the driver seemed impaired and reported it. While the transportation supervisor responded quickly, she was not able to intervene prior to the driver completing her morning route to the high school. At that time, the driver was removed from duty and has not returned to work since. Along with our investigation, we immediately notified the Ohio Highway Patrol and Mentor Police about what happened.
We are grateful this concern was brought to our attention so we could take action quickly. We treat every report we receive about the safety of our students, staff and schools very seriously.
Mentor Public School's Superintendent Craig Heath, who sent out the email, emphasized that the driver was released from her duties prior to transporting elementary and middle school students.
Jacklyn Schulte told News 5 she was stunned to learn the bus driver who transported her 13-year-old high-functioning autistic son to middle school was under investigation.
"She drives the bus everyday and she's really friendly with the kids and it's really shocking," Schulte said. "My feeling and my fear is that this is not the first time this has happened, but the first time she was caught."
Schulte is hoping Mentor Schools and Mentor Police conduct a complete investigation into the incident and try and determine how something like this could have happened.
"No one is above the law, so if she put children in danger she should face the consequences and also get the help she needs," Schulte said.
The City of Mentor released the following statement about the incident:
A Mentor Police Officer was dispatched for a report of a school bus driver that had been under the influence of alcohol. The officer took a statement from a Mentor Schools transportation supervisor related to their administrative investigation which resulted in the driver being removed from duty and sent home prior to police notification.
Mentor Police said the incident is still under investigation, and no further information is available at this time.
News 5 will follow through on this developing story.
