Wicomico County bus driver under fire after allegations and video evidence of reckless driving
SALISBURY, Md. – A Wicomico County Public School bus driver is under scrutiny with allegations surrounding bus safety. Russell Cooper is a student for East Salisbury Elementary, his grandmother Karen Cooper told WMDT, this experience was something out of a bad dream.
“Ever since he’s been on that bus, it’s been a nightmare we don’t quite understand why this bus stop was across the street. We thought we seen him get off the bus, his feet touch the ground, we go over to unlock the door and he’s nowhere in sight, we don’t know where he’s at.”
This was when the bus driver told her grandson, Russell to get off at the wrong bus stop. Russell and his mother Jessica Cooper have only been in Salisbury for a month. They had previously lived in Pennsylvania and Russell up to this point, had only ever walked to school. Jessica said, it has not been a pleasant experience so far, “I felt like I wasn’t very welcome, we came to me trying to reintegrate my son to a new area and I said that to them, that I didn’t feel welcomed by Salisbury.”
Both Jessica and Karen are making claims that the bus driver has been driving recklessly, they have shared the video with the WMDT, and in the video, you can see the bus making a turn without using turn signals and failing to stop completely at a stop sign.
They also caught on tape, the bus not properly stopping with the stop sign out and lights flashing. For two weeks, the Coopers have been calling the school district and the transportation company. They didn’t receive a response until Friday when the head of transportation spoke with Jessica Cooper.
“We are not in legal litigation right now, I’m asking you, person, to person, you’re saying you retrained him so is that you saying now would be the time to put my son back on the bus? The only reason, I took him off was because I wanted the man retrained so you’re saying he was retrained correct.” Said, Cooper.
The department head didn’t confirm if anyone received additional training, however, said they have handled the matter internally.
She said, they also confirmed exactly where her son would be picked up and dropped off-
since that’s been an ongoing issue as well, “It didn’t matter what morning or afternoon, we never knew where the bus was coming from, he was never consistent ever, and that was a huge problem because kids need to know where the bus stop is, on and off.”
Since, the Coopers spoke up, they hope other parents and guardians. will do the same, to advocate for all students in Wicomico County.
“To be honest, leading up to this interview me and my mother were not going show our faces because we were scared of retaliation but at the end of the day, this is for the safety of the children and if maybe showing our faces will get us heard more then that’s what we will do for the kids.”
WMDT reached out to WCPS, and they released the following statement.
“Wicomico County Public Schools is committed to promptly addressing any concerns regarding the transportation of our students. We are aware of a recent report of an incident involving a bus driver not meeting the performance standards set by our Transportation Department. Incident review and relevant corrective actions are being taken to ensure all transportation protocols are strictly followed, with student safety remaining our top priority. As this is a personnel matter, we are unable to provide further details at this time.”
