LITTLE ROCK, AR — A central Arkansas bus driver is on leave after being accused of inappropriate behavior with a student. The allegations surround surrounding text messages.
A second driver found out about the messages and reported it to the state’s child abuse hotline. That driver also decided to confidentially share those messages with Fox16.
The accused driver is not an employee of Little Rock Schools because the board contracts bus services to a private company, named First Student.
One parent says regardless, the accusations are pathetic.
“It’s just disgusting,” Marquita Hence said.
A confidential source says the text messages talk about sex, while a different one from the student tells the driver she “would not be able to call him later.”
Another text tells the driver, “Have a good night — I’ll see you in the morning.”
In a statement, communications manager Stephanie Creech says:
“Safety is a core value of First Student. The safe transport our students is a responsibility we take very seriously. We take any allegation such as this very seriously.
First Student is cooperating fully with the local police investigation. We are also conducting our own internal investigation. The driver involved in this incident has been removed from service pending the outcome of these investigations.”
Right now, school leaders say because the investigation is ongoing, they can not release any more details about the nature of the bus driver’s involvement with the student.
A second driver found out about the messages and reported it to the state’s child abuse hotline. That driver also decided to confidentially share those messages with Fox16.
The accused driver is not an employee of Little Rock Schools because the board contracts bus services to a private company, named First Student.
One parent says regardless, the accusations are pathetic.
“It’s just disgusting,” Marquita Hence said.
A confidential source says the text messages talk about sex, while a different one from the student tells the driver she “would not be able to call him later.”
Another text tells the driver, “Have a good night — I’ll see you in the morning.”
In a statement, communications manager Stephanie Creech says:
“Safety is a core value of First Student. The safe transport our students is a responsibility we take very seriously. We take any allegation such as this very seriously.
First Student is cooperating fully with the local police investigation. We are also conducting our own internal investigation. The driver involved in this incident has been removed from service pending the outcome of these investigations.”
Right now, school leaders say because the investigation is ongoing, they can not release any more details about the nature of the bus driver’s involvement with the student.