NATIONAL COALITION OF SCHOOL BUS SAFETY NEWS UP TO DEC. 2003

Connecticut Finds Some School Bus Drivers Have Criminal Pasts
December 2, 2000

By PAUL ZIELBAUER - HARTFORD, Dec. 1 — Dozens of school bus drivers in Connecticut have criminal backgrounds that include convictions for possession of narcotics, assault, risk of injury to a minor and illegal weapons possession, state officials said today.

An investigation of the roughly 6,000 school bus drivers in the state by the Department of Motor Vehicles has so far uncovered 55 currently employed school bus drivers with such criminal histories, said the agency's spokesman, William K. Seymour. About 3,600 rivers have been reviewed to date, he said.

In addition to the 55, the state found two other men, one convicted of murder and another of manslaughter, who had licenses to drive school buses but were not employed as drivers, the agency said.

In response to its findings, the department plans to stiffen its requirements for all future drivers.

"We depended on the bus company to be carefully scrutinizing the people that they were hiring," Mr. Seymour said in an interview. "We were finding some criminal convictions that were coming through that we thought should be getting caught."

In Connecticut, school bus drivers are employed by private transportation companies hired by local school districts. State law does not require the drivers to undergo any kind of criminal background check, Mr. Seymour said, though his department's regulations require state and federal checks. The regulations allow newly licensed school bus drivers to begin work while background checks, which take from one to four months, are processed, Mr. Seymour said.

"That's a system that we find repugnant," he said. "We're changing it."

The agency said the new system, expected to be in place in the next few weeks, would prevent school bus drivers from starting jobs before checks were completed. The system would also make it easier to ferret out and fire drivers who had slipped through the system or were convicted of crimes after they were hired.

In Hartford, Laidlaw Transit, one of the largest school bus companies operating in Connecticut, drives about 7,500 children to and from school each school day, according to the schools superintendent's office.

Jacquelyn Hardy, special assistant to Superintendent Anthony S. Amato, said the company had assured district officials that its background checks were thorough and that its drivers were reputable.

"I think that we should be able to guarantee that the individuals who transport our children are fully certified and licensed," Ms. Hardy said.

Officials at Laidlaw said they were encouraged by the state's review. "They've been in our offices going through the employee files, checking documents, which we think is great," said Clifford Gibson, the company's general manager in Naperville, Ill.

The Motor Vehicles Department plans to review the remaining 2,200 or so bus drivers in the next week or so, Mr. Seymour said.

back to News

top