THUNDER BAY – A Thunder Bay school bus driver has been fired for an ‘extremely unsafe student drop-off procedure that nearly led to a student being struck by the driver’s bus.
Student Transportation Services of Thunder Bay said the driver, whom they did not identify, will no longer be allowed to drive students to schools with the Conseil Scolaire de District Catholique des Aurores Boreales, Lakehead District School Board or the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board.
STSTB officials said the incident took place on Monday, adding the drop-off procedure violated multiple key requirements in stopping and discharging students, “resulting in a student nearly being struck by the bus."
The students involved were unharmed, but a parent filed a complaint and submitted a video of the incident to STSB, resulting in the immediate suspension of the driver pending an investigation by bus company senior management.
The video shows a student start to cross in front of the bus, only to have the driver start to move. The child moved back out of harm's way. The driver then closed the stop-arm and another arm before the students could cross the street. They then hurried across to safety on the other side of the road.
The head of the STSTB said they took the incident seriously.
“We stayed in contact with the parent throughout this process and called them several times to ensure that their children were OK and to keep them apprised of how we were proceeding,” reads a Facebook post, attributed to consortium manager Craig Murphy.
“The investigation was completed and report was given to me on the morning of Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2022, at which time the bus company was instructed to remove the driver from any route servicing any schools of Conseil Scolaire de District Catholique des Aurores Boreales, Lakehead District School Board or the Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board, effective immediately and permanently.”
The bus company full agreed and supported the decision. The driver has not been publicly identified.
Murphy said student safety is paramount and is why the consortium didn’t hesitate to act swiftly to remove the driver from transporting students.
