LEBANON, Ore. -- A school bus driver in Lebanon has been disciplined for returning rowdy kids back to school.
The drama unfolded on a bus leaving Seven Oak Middle School last Thursday.
"There were people yelling, but it's a daily thing on a bus, " said 11-year-old Malachi Watts.
It was 3:30 p.m. and Watts was on the bus along with more than 20 other kids, heading home from Seven Oaks Middle School.
Watts said a couple of kids got rowdy and then the unidentified bus driver lost patience.
She called into dispatch and said she was heading to back to the school. Dispatchers gave her permission.
"She was frustrated and it's a hard job, driving a bus is a difficult job, " said Rob Hess, Lebanon school district superintendent.
There were different accounts of what happened next.
"She made an illegal turn in front of Walmart, she cut off traffic, everyone was honking, and she kicked us off the bus," said Malachi.
But Superintendent Rob Hess, who has reviewed surveillance video from the bus, said that did not happen. He said that she pulled up to the school and stayed there, but broke policy by not escorting the children inside. Hess said that was her only mistake.
Ed Pruitt is Malachi's dad and he's angry. Malachi said he had to borrow a fellow student's cell phone to call someone for a ride home.
"I thought that he was in good hands. He's insulin-dependent. His life could've been in their hands." Pruitt said.
He's filed a complaint against the driver.
A fellow bus driver who used to have the rowdy route spoke to KGW but asked that her name be kept anonymous. She said the bus route in question has been known as the toughest in the entire district.
"When you have that rowdy of a group, you aren't being safe. So let's just turn it around and that's what she was doing," she said.
The bus driver was initially put on paid administrative leave but was allowed to return to work on Wednesday. Hess said she would not be fired.
