06/09/14 NEW JERSEY DEPARTMENT
OF CHILDREN AND FAMILIES V.
R.R.
A-2605-12T4
Appellant was a school bus driver. At the end of her route she
did not visually inspect the bus to make sure there were no children left on
board, as required by N.J.S.A. 18A:39-28. Instead, she had relied upon a school
bus aide's representation there were not any children on the bus, even though
in the past the driver had found the aide to be unreliable. In fact, a
five-year old was left on board after the bus driver left for the day. The
child was not discovered for fifty-five minutes.
We affirmed the finding of the Assistant Commissioner of the
Office of Performance Management and Accountability of the Department of
Children and Families that the bus driver had engaged in willful and wanton
conduct in violation of N.J.S.A. 9:6-8.21(c)(4)(b), for relying upon an
undependable aide's representation and not personally inspecting the bus
herself to determine if any children remained on board.
