Hop off the Bus Gus

A bus driver in the town of Basalt, CO (a town fresh off of being named one of America's to 50 places to live) kicked 13 preschoolers and three teachers off the bus. The crime, not paying the proper fare. But here's the kicker, the driver never told the teachers, instead she just radioed the police. From the article,

The bus driver refused to communicate with the teachers or to transport them, according to Soliday, and had the police called instead.

Who says small town values are dead? There are high schools with more people than Basalt's 3000ish citizens.

The good news is that the bus agency is appropriately dismayed.

"I apologize for this unpleasant, unfortunate, regrettable situation," said RFTA CEO Dan Blankenship. "We have been focusing on driver shortages, the X Games, inclement weather and whatnot and got caught flatfooted here. Based on the information currently available, I question whether the involvement of the police was either necessary or appropriate in this situation," wrote Blankenship in a letter of apology sent to the parents of the students involved. "This incident ... highlights the need for ... better trained (bus drivers) to differentiate between real emergencies that require police intervention and others that require tact and diplomacy. I will put this type of training at the top of our priorities."

Seriosly, what is wrong with some people. All that I can think of is that driver was too shy to deal with it, not wanting to be the bad gal, so she called the cops. And speaking of, I can't imagine how the poor cops felt. Generally, police thrive with outreach to the little kids, escorting them off a bus, with no real provocation, must have felt, well...wrong.

I'm not big on calling for the heads of working folks, but this lady's got of explaining to do. The way I see it, if she handles something like this so incredibly poorly, how would she handle and actual emergency? And given that her judgment is obviously flawed, should she the lives of the bus passengers be, literally, in her hands?