Norman School Bus Driver Who Abandoned Students No Longer With District

A bus driver with Norman Public Schools is no longer employed with the district after he stopped his bus mid-route and walked away from the vehicle, leaving the students he was transporting, the school system said.

The district said in a statement that on Monday, May 1, when a bus for Longfellow Middle School was on its afternoon route, the driver and monitor had a disagreement.

The driver then pulled over and walked off the bus while students were still onboard.

In a cell phone video recorded from one of the seats, two men could be heard arguing.

"Call transportation and tell them," one man said.

"Okay, call transportation," the other man responded.

"No, you call," the first man said.

"No you call them," the other man said.

The video then showed the bus driver walking out of the vehicle.

Another voice, sounding like that of a student, said, "If you leave right now, I will scream!"

A photo showed what appeared to be the bus driver walking on the side of the road away from the school bus, while several cars were stopped behind the vehicle.

Norman Public Schools said after the driver got off the bus, the monitor, who has an active commercial driver's license, moved the bus to a safe location. While heading to the safe location, the monitor dropped off students at three stops that were on the way, the district said.

The bus monitor and remaining students then waited for the arrival of the director of transportation and a replacement driver, the district said. The replacement driver dropped off the rest of the students.

While the district did not identify the bus driver who left the students, it said the driver is no longer employed with the school system.

"The safety and security of our students and staff is a top priority of Norman Public Schools, and that extends beyond the classrooms to our transportation department," the district said.