Children in Indiana got the trip of a lifetime, while their school bus driver got a trip to the unemployment line… If she doesn’t wind up in prison, that is.
Joandrea McAtee, 27, a school bus driver for schools in Porter Township, Indiana, was fired, and subsequently arrested, after video emerged of her allowing students – it’s alleged three were involved, ages 11, 13, and 17 – to drive the bus on their way home from school. Passengers captured the driving lessons on video, and their parents immediately alerted school officials.
welcome to Boone grove where we let 6th graders drive a bus with children on it. pic.twitter.com/gQRzWUrDPg
— brianna lavin (@breelavin24) September 21, 2018
“Don’t you tell no other adults,” McAtee tells one child, while in another video a woman is heard saying, “it’s all good. It’s all good. I’m letting her stop at Michael’s stop.”
McAtee was then taken into police custody as she arrived at the bus depot to pick up her final paycheck. She was charged with neglect of a dependent (that’s it???). The “investigation” is still ongoing.
Porter Township is a rural community a little more than an hour from Chicago. The bus slowly made its way down Lourdes Street with a small girl at the helm, most likely from Boone Grove middle school. Keep in mind that most school buses either don’t have seat belts, or don’t enforce their use.
Porter Township bus driver let 11-year-old, 2 teenagers drive: police
School bus driver fired for letting kids take the wheel
Indiana Bus Driver Fired For Letting Kids Drive The Bus
Joandrea McAtee, bus driver, accused of letting students drive
Where Your Children Are 