 |
||||||||
 |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
Students guide lost bus driver back to school
By LINDA GIBSON © St. Petersburg Times, published September 2, 2000 TAMPA -- Not far into the 10-mile drive to Jefferson High School on Friday morning, students noticed the 71-year-old driver of their bus seemed confused. By 7 a.m., they knew something definitely was wrong. The bus went right by the school at 4401 Cypress St. W. The driver, agitated and weepy, aimlessly steered the bus through a residential neighborhood in West Tampa about two miles from the school. Then he started circling the same block over and over. When the bus came to a stop at the intersection of Rome Avenue and Union Street, more than a dozen of the 45 students on board jumped out the emergency door at the rear. One of them called the school at 7:20 a.m. from a pay phone on Union Street. The school and the Tampa Police Department sent people to pick up the students who got off the bus. Meanwhile, those remaining on board tried to talk to the driver. "They'd explain, "We need you to get us to school and here's how to get there,' " said Mark Hart, spokesman for the Hillsborough County School District. The students managed to guide the driver, street-by-street, back to the school by 7:40 a.m. The driver, whom Hart declined to name, was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital. Students on the bus met later Friday with a school psychologist. Hart said they described the driver as disoriented, anxious and confused about his whereabouts. But he remained in control of his driving, they said, never speeding and obeying all traffic signals. The driver has been working for the Hillsborough district since 1997 and has had the same route for three years. He has a safe-driver designation from the state of Florida and has no record of problems with the district, said Hart. His most recent physical examination was done last year. "He was given a clean bill of health to drive," said Hart. The district's office of professional standards will review the driver's actions, as well as the results of a screening for drugs and alcohol. Its report should be available as early as next week, said Hart. In the meantime, the driver will be on paid medical leave, and a substitute driver will take over the route. - Linda Gibson can be reached at (813) 226-3382 or gibson@sptimes.com.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
|
From the Times |
