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Board pauses bus-driver termination after executive session, agrees to meet with driver and representatives
Summary
Following an executive session on personnel, the board agreed to postpone the termination docket item for a bus driver and voted to remove Lee Jones from the termination list, directing administrators to meet with the driver and his representation to review the report and pursue remediation where appropriate.
After reconvening from an executive session, Superintendent Lance Goodpaster told the board the district would meet with the bus driver (referred to in public comments as Rudy) and his representatives to review the incident report, go through details and seek an agreeable remediation plan. The board then approved a consent-agenda amendment to pull Lee Jones from the termination list.
President moved to approve the consent agenda with that one amendment; a director seconded the motion and the board voted in favor unanimously. Goodpaster said the board authorized a follow-up meeting with the driver, the superintendent, and the board'selected representatives to review the findings and consider remediation rather than immediate termination.
Several bus drivers and union representatives addressed the board during public comment before the executive session, saying the conduct in question was not clearly a policy violation and arguing that the district should not terminate long'tenured employees for routine practices such as closing a bus door during a private conversation with a student. Tara Ament, a union representative for bus drivers, said she could not find a written policy that rose to the level of termination and urged the board to retain the employee.
The board did not announce a final disciplinary outcome at the meeting and indicated further review with the driver and his representation would precede any final action.
