Corbin superintendent promises full investigation of Monday bus incident

A Corbin Independent School District bus driver has been suspended after striking two street signs on his route Monday morning and causing frantic parents to flood the school district’s board office with calls expressing concern.

Corbin School Superintendent Ed McNeel said Tuesday that he intends to investigate "fully" what happened with the driver and the bus, filled with students from Corbin Primary School, on the district’s first day back to school after summer break.
"It was a hectic release afternoon with all the new routes," he said. "I’m trying to get all the details."

According to Corbin Schools public affairs officer Susie Hart, the driver of bus 54 experienced difficulty in making two of his turns in south Corbin, hitting a stop sign and a street sign while on 16th Street.  After hitting the second sign, with nearly 25 students still on the bus, the driver stopped his bus and called Transportation Director Josh VanNorstran to alert him of the situation. VanNorstran and another driver immediately were en route to pick up the children to transport them back to Corbin Primary where their parents were notified to pick them up. No one was injured in the incident.

McNeel said the driver wasn’t simply suspended from duty because of hitting the traffic signs, but also because he/she deviated from the prescribed route.

"It’s not where they were supposed to travel. We are fighting several issues here about what delayed the route. From this we’ve already made some changes and are looking at several different procedures. It’s a opportunity for us to make things better."

McNeel said the district being unable to provide information in a timely manner to parents regarding the incident.

A parent of one of the students on the bus told the News Journal that parents were kept in the dark about the whereabouts of their children and were given little information when the called the board office. Some were even hung up on, he said.

"They didn’t by any means help anything. They left us hanging out to dry," the parent said. "My son got off and begged me never to make him go back on the bus … It doesn’t really bother me so much that the driver had a mishap. What upsets me is the school board trying to keep everything quiet. That’s what got me."

McNeel said the district is looking at how the situation was handled and plans to make improvements.

"Our main concern is the safety of our students," Superintendent Ed McNeel said. "We regret the incident occurred and are conducting a full investigation. The driver has been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation."

It is the policy of the Corbin Independent School District to drug test any bus driver involved in an accident on the day of the incident. The name of the driver has not yet been released.

"District wide other bus delays and issues with routes were normal for the first day back to school and will be worked out soon," McNeel said. "We do believe that the change providing buses for primary students is the right decision for the students and the district. We will strive to improve all bus routes within the district over the next few days."