State Threatens To Take License Of School Bus Co.

By: Associated Press | NBC4i.com
Published: November 13, 2009

CINCINNATI -- A Cincinnati operator of school bus service is threatened with losing its state license, two years after an incident involving cocaine and one of its Columbus drivers.

The Ohio Department of Public Safety said this week that First Student Inc. has failed to show it's doing background checks on all its drivers. The company was given 10 days to respond.

An audit completed this month discovered about six of 26 First Student drivers in the Dayton area were driving without a completed personnel file -- specifically, current Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation background records.

"We do intend to take into consideration some action into the pupil transportation license with the most severe penalty possibly being the revocation of that license," said Tom Hunter, of the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

First Student has been on state probation since November 2007. Earlier that year, Columbus police said a driver had a cocaine-filled syringe on his bus. That driver, Lawrence Battle is serving 11 years for cocaine possession.
Officials found that a background check was not completed for Battle, which would have turned up major traffic violations on his record.

The settlement of the Columbus case required First Student to comply with all laws governing student transportation in the state or lose its license.

If the company loses its license, that could force Columbus City Schools to find alternate transportation for the 4,500 students transported by the bus company.

First Student officials said they received the notice from the department of public safety but have no details as to what the audit revealed.

"Until such time that First Student has had an opportunity to review the particulars of the department's audit, the company is not in a position to speculate or to make any further substantial comment," officials said.

Cincinnati's schools also are served by the company. A spokeswoman says the district believes the state will seek to avoid service disruptions.

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