District administrators recommend firing Jacksonville coach after student drove school bus

Jacksonville North Pulaski School District administrators recommended terminating the employment contract of coach Willie Larry Jr. after reviewing video footage and student statements that show a student driving a school bus on Feb. 7, 2025.

The recommendation, read into the record by Dr. O'Laughton, said investigators found a violation of board policy 3.27, which requires supervising students at all times. "We found that he was in violation of board policy 3.27 for not supervising students at all times ... and so, therefore, I recommended termination, because of that," Dr. O'Laughton said during the hearing.

The administration's packet included student statements, a video from inside the gym showing a coach handing keys to a student, and bus camera footage that administrators said captures the bus being started and driven. Dr. O'Laughton told the board the administration pulled video from the bus and from the auxiliary gym and conducted interviews at the high school; the coach was placed on administrative leave with pay and told not to contact students or staff.

During questioning, administrators said the bus video showed the engine running after a student handled the keys. Dr. O'Laughton told the board that multiple student statements and the video informed the investigation; she also said bus video storage is limited and that longer-term review over the coach's three-year tenure had not been possible because video is retained for about two weeks.

Sheila Campbell, the coach's attorney, submitted an affidavit signed by Jordan Bryant and her mother on March 13, 2025, saying, "to the best of my knowledge, information, belief, Willie Larry Jr. did not authorize any student on 02/07/2025 to drive the school bus, and he never authorized any student to drive the bus," and urged the board not to terminate a coach she described as having "a stellar career." "To terminate his employment when he has had a stellar career with the school district would just be cruel and unusual," Campbell told the board.

Willie Larry Jr., who identified himself at the hearing as the coach, acknowledged that he gave a key to a student as part of what he described as an established routine but denied authorizing a student to drive the bus. "I do not deny giving Jordan a key," he said. He and his attorney said the student later came to Campbell's office and executed the affidavit to correct her earlier statement.

Board members asked whether students were disciplined; administrators said the principal met with students and disciplined them after the administration discovered the incident. The administration also said it did not locate an explicit written rule permitting a student manager to open a bus door or move a bus, but emphasized that policy 3.27 requires supervising students at all times.

No formal board vote on the administration's recommendation was recorded in the transcript provided. The hearing included playback of video evidence and cross-examination in an informal conversational format; the board reserved the option to review video again when it deliberates.

The case centers on safety and supervision: administrators cited potential liability and student safety as primary reasons for recommending termination, while the coach's counsel argued the student's signed affidavit and the coach's personnel record weigh against dismissal. The board did not announce a final decision in the recorded portion of the hearing.