An Everett, Washington, school bus driver is reportedly out of a job after her refusal to open the vehicle’s windows caused one student to pass out.
Students aboard the bus repeatedly asked that the windows be opened – a request the unidentified driver denied, telling students they were on a “borrowed bus” and unable to open the windows because “the alarms will go off.”
The incident occurred on April 19, according to local media outlet KING5, which shared an audio recording of the incident (watch below).
One student eventually shouts, “Amaya passed out on the bus. She’s too hot.”
“Okay, right now, can you fan her,” asked the driver, who wasn’t budging. At one point she declares, “I don’t care.”
Students tried to cool down the girl, who was eventually able to stand on her own. When a student asked the driver to stop at a location different from their normal one, she obliged.
But Mary Waggoner with Everett Public Schools said that was the wrong decision, noting the driver should have just opened the windows.
“I was sorry to see that she was not more compassionate with students, and that also students were allowed to get off the bus at places that were not their normal stops,” said Waggoner, according to KING5.
The driver was subsequently terminated from her job with Durham Transportation.
