The Castle Rock school bus driver accused by parents of forcing their children off the bus at a busy intersection, miles away from their homes, said that’s not what happened.
“That’s not correct, I said nothing to them,” bus driver Irving Johnson said in an interview with Denver7, referencing claims from parents that he told all 40 students to get off his bus. “I opened the door and they knew that this was at least close to where they were supposed to get off and they just were getting off.”
When all 40 students got off instead of just a handful, Johnson said he was alarmed, but was working to log which children departed the bus electronically, which he is required to do.
“I recognize I could have done better at that stop, when the rest of the kids got off the bus, and it was bizarre for me,” Johnson said in the interview. “I think I was really stunned by it and I didn’t know what to do.”
Johnson said he’s driven for the Douglas County School District for the last seven years, but Monday was his first time on that specific route.
He said many of the Clear Sky Elementary School students were causing chaos as soon as they boarded the bus.
“They got on the bus, and they were in an uproar,” Johnson told Denver7. “…They were all over the seats, standing on them, up on the rack, doing pull-ups on the overhead luggage rack. And so, you know, I knew I had a difficult challenge to deal with.”
Multiple parents said their children reported Johnson threatening them and using vulgar language, but the bus driver said that wasn’t the case.
In an email sent Wednesday to families on the bus route, Douglas County School District Chief Operations Officer Rich Cosgrove said the driver was a “relief driver” on the route and is no longer employed by the district. At that time, Cosgrove did not identify the driver as Johnson.
Cosgrove said the bus was on its third of 12 stops when he stopped “just short” of the usual location, on the corner of Wolfensberger and Auburn, “leading to some confusion.”
Johnson claimed the error was caused by a malfunction on the school district’s tablet that provides him directions, causing him to turn early.
Johnson should have immediately notified the district’s transportation dispatchers when all the students exited the bus but failed to do so, Cosgrove said.
Cosgrove said the video footage from the bus can’t currently be shared due to the ongoing investigation by the Castle Rock Police Department. It’s not clear whether criminal charges will be filed.
The Castle Rock Police Department declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation.
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