Bus driver fired after moving barricade, driving through flooded road
BRUNSWICK COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — The Brunswick County School Board has fired a school bus driver accused of driving through a flooded road this morning.
A Brunswick County man was out checking road conditions on Highway 133 this morning when he saw something he couldn’t believe.
“We pulled up to check the water level and the bus pulled up to the barricades. So I thought well it will turn around. It didn’t. She got out of the bus. Moves the barricade off the road. Drove through the barricade, left the barricade on the side of the road,” Felker said.
Felker recorded video of the bus as it drove by. It is a situation he says he never wants to see again.
“I got to thinking about my own children and grandchildren. And how that would affect me personally. Just knowing that they were put in that predicament,” Felker said.
This afternoon the district announced the board, which met this morning in regular session, approved a recommendation to dismiss the driver Marsha Bellamy McMillian.
“The driver’s actions are inexcusable,” Brunswick County Schools spokeswoman Jessica Swencki said this morning after the district learned about what happened. “Officials concluded the driver did not follow standard protocol when she ignored the road closure barricades and as a result is facing disciplinary action. We are incredibly thankful that all students on the bus arrived at school safely this morning. Transportation officials will use this opportunity to provide all Brunswick County school bus drivers with important safety reminders to prevent this from occurring again in the future.”
Swencki said McMillian, 49, had worked for the district since Oct. 29, 2007, as a bus driver and custodian. The district says McMillian was driving Bus 372 to South Brunswick High School.
Felker says he was a fireman for 18 years and has pulled people who have driven through high water out of cars, so he knows how dangerous this was.
Felker adds he wants the NC Department of Transportation to fix the problem area on Highway 133.
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