GUILTY TN - Six elementary students killed in Chattanooga school bus crash, 21 Nov 2016

[Elley Mae]

Walker, Johnthony K
D.O.B. : 7/28/1992 Bond Amount : * $20,000.00
Judge Name : Lila Statom Division : 4
Court Room : 4 Court Time : 8:30 AM
Court Date : 11/29/2016

http://www.hcsheriff.gov/cor/iio/display.php?spn=3bd46bbf550398ea811448ee8f0631b7

- - -
Coulter, the school district's transportation supervisor, said in a Nov. 2 email to Durham manager Domenic D'Amico that the Woodmore principal had to intervene several times when Walker was arguing with students. http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/national-international/Students-Complained-About-Erratic-Driving-Before-School-Bus-Wreck-Chattanooga-403076816.html

- - -
In a statement, the school district acknowledged that its records contained “many emails of complaint and concern.”

About the time that school officials wrote emails expressing alarm about how often Mr. Walker was making referrals for behavioral issues aboard his bus, they also documented concerns about his driving.

“On Tuesday, 11/8, the driver, in my opinion, was driving way too fast when he pulled out of our school,” Woodmore’s principal, Brenda Adamson-Cothran, wrote in an email on Nov. 11. “It was not as bad as yesterday, but still not optimal.”
On Nov. 16, records show, the principal warned in an email that six students had reported that Mr. Walker “was swerving and purposely trying to cause them to fall today.”

The school district said Friday that it “does not have any records of any accidents or disciplinary records pertaining to Durham employees.” A spokeswoman for Durham, Molly Hart, said the company had no comment about the documents the school district released.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/25/us/tennessee-bus-crash-driver-complaints.html?_r=0

bbm, Who was the email too that the principal complained to about the driving? Evidently it wasn't to the Durham bus service. How does the school district not have the principals email complaining about johnthony's driving? jmo idk maybe I'm missing something

 

[Spellbound]

From August 2015, re hiring Durham School Services for bus operations:
http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story...-accountable-for-school-bus-accidents-drivers

Kerry Krick is the new regional manager for Durham School Services, the exclusive school bus contractor for Shelby County Schools and for the county's six municipal school districts.

He inherited a school bus fleet with a record of 251 Shelby County school bus accidents or incidents in the last three years. Records revealed its drivers were at fault in more than half of them.

WMC Action News 5 also found Durham bus drivers with drug and felony records, countless motor vehicle violations -- a Durham driver for the Millington, Tennessee, school district was even extradited to Texas for outstanding drug and fraud warrants.
In spite of that record, Shelby County Schools renewed Durham for the 2015-16 school year with a $28.2 million contract -- what amounts to a $2.3 million raise. But strict benchmarks are tied to the money. According to the contract, SCS will withhold a percentage of funds from Durham's annual allotment if it fails:
* to have less than nine preventable accidents.
* to have less than 11 mechanical/technical failures.
* to achieve 95 percent on-time arrivals monthly
* to achieve zero unreported accidents/incidents involving children.
"If we don't get the benefit of our bargain and a company doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing and promise to do, we're going to hold them accountable," SCS Superintendent Dorsey Hopson said.


"We've actively, strongly recruited new professional drivers," he said, although he admitted he has kept 90 percent of the drivers who served SCS last year. "We have retrained our drivers who were here," he added.
itemization of safety features added:
* Zonar diagnostic computers on every bus. Drivers must activate their hand-held Zonar devices on every Zonar sensor on their buses twice a day: before the morning route and before the afternoon route. "It searches for any deficiencies in the vehicle," Krick demonstrated. "We get the report, they get the report, they see it on the screen, we see it on the screen (at the training center). If it's not safe, it's not leaving the yard."
* GPS tracking devices on every bus
* Six safety/training supervisors, plus six more roadside supervisors.
* Motor vehicle violation background checks on every driver every 60 days.
* FBI background checks on new hires that are double and triple-checked by both SCS and Durham.


- - -
http://www.chattanoogan.com/2016/11/23/336743/County-School-Officials-Say-Recent.aspx
[h=1]County School Officials Say Recent Complaints About Johnthony Walker Were Forwarded To Durham School Services[/h]"Per our protocols, these complaints were promptly forwarded to Durham School Services. As the direct employer of Mr. Walker, Durham manages all employee matters for him and the other drivers. and maintains all personnel files for its employees.

"Multiple agencies have open investigations ongoing at this time. We hope to release more information once these investigations are completed."

 

[Elley Mae]

From August 2015, re hiring Durham School Services for bus operations:
http://www.wmcactionnews5.com/story...-accountable-for-school-bus-accidents-drivers

Kerry Krick is the new regional manager for Durham School Services, the exclusive school bus contractor for Shelby County Schools and for the county's six municipal school districts.

He inherited a school bus fleet with a record of 251 Shelby County school bus accidents or incidents in the last three years. Records revealed its drivers were at fault in more than half of them.

WMC Action News 5 also found Durham bus drivers with drug and felony records, countless motor vehicle violations -- a Durham driver for the Millington, Tennessee, school district was even extradited to Texas for outstanding drug and fraud warrants.
In spite of that record, Shelby County Schools renewed Durham for the 2015-16 school year with a $28.2 million contract -- what amounts to a $2.3 million raise. But strict benchmarks are tied to the money. According to the contract, SCS will withhold a percentage of funds from Durham's annual allotment if it fails:
* to have less than nine preventable accidents.
* to have less than 11 mechanical/technical failures.
* to achieve 95 percent on-time arrivals monthly
* to achieve zero unreported accidents/incidents involving children.
"If we don't get the benefit of our bargain and a company doing exactly what they're supposed to be doing and promise to do, we're going to hold them accountable," SCS Superintendent Dorsey Hopson said.


"We've actively, strongly recruited new professional drivers," he said, although he admitted he has kept 90 percent of the drivers who served SCS last year. "We have retrained our drivers who were here," he added.
itemization of safety features added:
* Zonar diagnostic computers on every bus. Drivers must activate their hand-held Zonar devices on every Zonar sensor on their buses twice a day: before the morning route and before the afternoon route. "It searches for any deficiencies in the vehicle," Krick demonstrated. "We get the report, they get the report, they see it on the screen, we see it on the screen (at the training center). If it's not safe, it's not leaving the yard."
* GPS tracking devices on every bus
* Six safety/training supervisors, plus six more roadside supervisors.
* Motor vehicle violation background checks on every driver every 60 days.
* FBI background checks on new hires that are double and triple-checked by both SCS and Durham.


- - -
http://www.chattanoogan.com/2016/11/23/336743/County-School-Officials-Say-Recent.aspx
[h=1]County School Officials Say Recent Complaints About Johnthony Walker Were Forwarded To Durham School Services[/h]"Per our protocols, these complaints were promptly forwarded to Durham School Services. As the direct employer of Mr. Walker, Durham manages all employee matters for him and the other drivers. and maintains all personnel files for its employees.

"Multiple agencies have open investigations ongoing at this time. We hope to release more information once these investigations are completed."

WTF? So everybody was aware there was a problem yet no one did anything. Who the he11 is this skateboarder that everybody seems to have protected. I see so many lawsuits coming on this at every level. This is just so damn sad and ridiculous. .jmo

 

[kshultz06082]

Good grief. Can it get any worse?:gaah:

I must be missing something.... what is so bad about this teacher getting an award?

 

[Elley Mae]

This should be interesting.

 

[K_Z]

I must be missing something.... what is so bad about this teacher getting an award?

I'll be happy to elaborate. See my post #286.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ssee-school-bus-crash&p=12960491#post12960491

First, this is not a teacher, but a "behavioral specialist" (meaning, a school social worker or psychologist), who was asked to do a ride along to observe the kids and the driver's interactions, following a bunch of complaints. (And an accident a week or so before by the driver with kids aboard.)

This individual was doing a "ride along" when JW made wildly inappropriate statements that should have immediately triggered the social worker to insist the bus was pulled over, dispatch contacted, and school administrators contacted.

That bus driver should not have been allowed to continue the route, IMO. JW was making immediate threats to the children's safety, along with demonstrating irresponsibility, and a dangerous mindset toward the kids and safety. That JW felt so comfortable saying all that out loud to a behavior specialist as he drove the route is simply appalling.

The social worker/ psychologist has a state mandated duty to report that, at a minimum. It appears that the behavior specialist simply "documented" what he saw and heard, in an after-action report. The "behavior specialist" failed spectacularly in his role, IMO. Apparently, as a highly trained professional, he had no serious or immediate problems with what Johnthony Walker was saying and doing.

IMO, that should be grounds for disciplinary action and/ or firing of the "behavior specialist". But hey, he got an award for being a leader in being "innovative" in May 2016 at the end of the last school year. So, maybe my expectations for his job performance as a highly trained and award winning "behavioral specialist" are simply "too high."

How much WORSE could JW's words and behavior have to be, to make an impression on this "behavior specialist" during the ride along? He actually told the behavior specialist that he didn't care about the kids! And that he would like to abandon them on the side of the road and walk away from the bus, or leave the kid in question back at the school. And apparently this behavior specialist was so "okay" with that, that he just waited till the ride was over (but "observing", of course!), and then wrote up a report. Bureaucratic incompetence at its finest, IMO. And now 6 kids are dead, and many severely injured because he was another administrator that DID NOTHING to get this driver out of the driver's seat.

:gaah:

 

[BetteDavisEyes]

^ Sounds to me that the "ride-along" was intended to pacify and placate the parents who complained about the driver with no intention of calling for the dismissal of the driver or requesting a replacement. :moo:

 

[kshultz06082]

I'll be happy to elaborate. See my post #286.

http://www.websleuths.com/forums/sh...ssee-school-bus-crash&p=12960491#post12960491

First, this is not a teacher, but a "behavioral specialist" (meaning, a school social worker or psychologist), who was asked to do a ride along to observe the kids and the driver's interactions, following a bunch of complaints. (And an accident a week or so before by the driver with kids aboard.)

This individual was doing a "ride along" when JW made wildly inappropriate statements that should have immediately triggered the social worker to insist the bus was pulled over, dispatch contacted, and school administrators contacted.

That bus driver should not have been allowed to continue the route, IMO. JW was making immediate threats to the children's safety, along with demonstrating irresponsibility, and a dangerous mindset toward the kids and safety. That JW felt so comfortable saying all that out loud to a behavior specialist as he drove the route is simply appalling.

The social worker/ psychologist has a state mandated duty to report that, at a minimum. It appears that the behavior specialist simply "documented" what he saw and heard, in an after-action report. The "behavior specialist" failed spectacularly in his role, IMO. Apparently, as a highly trained professional, he had no serious or immediate problems with what Johnthony Walker was saying and doing.

IMO, that should be grounds for disciplinary action and/ or firing of the "behavior specialist". But hey, he got an award for being a leader in being "innovative" in May 2016 at the end of the last school year. So, maybe my expectations for his job performance as a highly trained and award winning "behavioral specialist" are simply "too high."

How much WORSE could JW's words and behavior have to be, to make an impression on this "behavior specialist" during the ride along? He actually told the behavior specialist that he didn't care about the kids! And that he would like to abandon them on the side of the road and walk away from the bus, or leave the kid in question back at the school. And apparently this behavior specialist was so "okay" with that, that he just waited till the ride was over (but "observing", of course!), and then wrote up a report. Bureaucratic incompetence at its finest, IMO. And now 6 kids are dead, and many severely injured because he was another administrator that DID NOTHING to get this driver out of the driver's seat.

:gaah:

That makes sense. I was tired when reading last night and didnt put 2 and 2 together. Thank you for explaining.

 

[Jax49]

Apologies if this days old article was posted earlier. I'd missed the part about the earlier accident with the bus involving him running a stop sign.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/...ils-emerge-history-bus-driver-company/399336/

She swerved right, but there was nowhere to go.On the afternoon of Sept. 20, Belinda Hamilton rounded the corner of Sylvan Drive, a narrow two-lane road in the Brainerd area. To her left, she saw a school bus whip through a stop sign and turn right, barreling toward her. The bus crossed the center line. Hamilton swerved right, but there was no room — the braking bus scraped against her Kia Soul.
"Luckily, no one got killed," she thought that day. "What's going to happen the next time?"
A Chattanooga police officer wrote that the bus driver, 24-year-old Johnthony K. Walker, was at fault in that crash. But the officer did not cite Walker for any violations, and he continued driving the bus route.

ETA: AND, he was off his route that time also.

Reneé Cosmé lives across the street from where Walker crashed into Hamilton, and her children rode his bus this school year. She said Walker wasn't supposed to take Sylvan Drive, a narrow road with a sharp bend right after drivers turn on it. Even smaller cars sometimes crash there, Cosmé said.

 

[Spellbound]

Seems he has a tendency to go off route .... wonder why he does that. Also, I wonder if some of the kids thought driving fast and jerking was a "game" and laughted, which only encouraged his bad driving. not an excuse by any means, but I do know in my days the boys thought that was cool. Immaturity at its worst, particularly with school bus kids.

 

[Jax49]

I looked at Sylvan Dr. on Google Maps Street View. At first I thought it was someone's driveway. Absolutely no way a school bus should be there. Parts are actually two lanes, but the rest doesn't look wide enough for two small cars. MOO

 

[Inthedetails]

I looked at Sylvan Dr. on Google Maps Street View. At first I thought it was someone's driveway. Absolutely no way a school bus should be there. Parts are actually two lanes, but the rest doesn't look wide enough for two small cars. MOO

Was there someone on that street he wanted to ride past??

IDK.

 

[Elley Mae]

Apologies if this days old article was posted earlier. I'd missed the part about the earlier accident with the bus involving him running a stop sign.

http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/...ils-emerge-history-bus-driver-company/399336/



ETA: AND, he was off his route that time also.

Yes i missed that part as well. I did see a diagram that showed what happened. He was on the outside lane on a curve to the left, he was over the center line as the car(small) was traveling in the opposite direction, he took her half out the middle. side swiped her.

 

[Spellbound]

Yes i missed that part as well. I did see a diagram that showed what happened. He was on the outside lane on a curve to the left, he was over the center line as the car(small) was traveling in the opposite direction, he took her half out the middle. side swiped her.

Re BBM:

The diagram is in the crash report I posted earlied, post #299

Crash report from earlier accident:
http://wsmv.images.worldnow.com/library/e4db7aa4-6d65-4f7c-ad13-f11a6e57509d.pdf

 

[CarmelEyesD]

http://newschannel9.com/news/local/...s-to-be-replaced-will-have-experienced-driver


.Woodmore Elementary says school bus to be replaced, will have "experienced" driver

A post on the school's Facebook page from late Sunday night says "Bus 366 has been replaced with bus 357."

The post also says "The bus will be driven by an experienced driver," and "We will have an HCDE staff member ride all of our buses for the morning and afternoon route."

 

[Spellbound]

http://newschannel9.com/news/local/...s-to-be-replaced-will-have-experienced-driver


.Woodmore Elementary says school bus to be replaced, will have "experienced" driver

A post on the school's Facebook page from late Sunday night says "Bus 366 has been replaced with bus 357."

The post also says "The bus will be driven by an experienced driver," and "We will have an HCDE staff member ride all of our buses for the morning and afternoon route."

From your link, attaching handwritten notes from students prior to the accident. (It will post below my text)

http://newschannel9.com/news/local/...over-records-of-complaint-in-school-bus-crash
The records reveal that school administrators, parents, and even students lodged various written and verbal complaints against Walker. Allegations of speeding, reckless driving , arguments with students and school administrators litter the document

show that Principal Cothran followed protocol as she forwarded complaints against Johnthony Walker to Hamilton County Director of Transportation Benjamin Coulter. Coulter was then responsible for notifying Durham School Services of the complaints. Jill Levine told us that "once we get a complaint to Durham, we expect that they're going to handle the complaint, manage the complaint, and fix whatever the situation is."
- - -
Linked to documents of complaints; it may take a little while for the document to open near the top of the article. http://newschannel9.com/news/local/complaints-about-johnthony-walkers-driving-released-by-hamilton-county

document can also be found at: https://www.scribd.com/mobile/document/332469835/Hamilton-County-Johnthony-Walker-Records-1#from_embed
Or at: https://www.scribd.com/mobile/docum...ohnthony-Walker-Records-1?skip_app_promo=true


http://newschannel9.com/news/local/complaints-about-johnthony-walkers-driving-released-by-hamilton-county
Records released by the school district Friday include two written statements by students complaining about Walker's driving.
"The bus driver drives fast," one student wrote earlier this month. "It feels like the bus is going to flip over... When someone is in the aisle he stops the bus and he makes people hit their heads."
Another student wrote: "The bus driver was doing sharp turns and he made me fly over to the next seat. We need seat belts."
On Nov. 16, Adamson-Cothran wrote to Coulter to tell him six students had reported that the driver "was swerving and purposely trying to cause them to fall today." [Woodmore Principal Brenda Adamson-Cothran] [school district's transportation supervisor, Benjamin Coulter]

Coulter, the school district's transportation supervisor, said in a Nov. 2 email to Durham manager Domenic D'Amico that the Woodmore principal had to intervene several times when Walker was arguing with students.

 

[Spellbound]

http://newschannel9.com/news/local/...over-records-of-complaint-in-school-bus-crash

The records reveal that school administrators, parents, and even students lodged various written and verbal complaints against Walker. Allegations of speeding, reckless driving , arguments with students and school administrators litter the documents

The records released to NewsChannel 9 show that Principal Cothran followed protocol as she forwarded complaints against Johnthony Walker to Hamilton County Director of Transportation Benjamin Coulter. Coulter was then responsible for notifying Durham School Services of the complaints. Jill Levine told us that "once we get a complaint to Durham, we expect that they're going to handle the complaint, manage the complaint, and fix whatever the situation is."

 

[KaaBoom]

I wonder how someone could have two jobs with the weird hours a school bus driver has?

Weekends and nights.

 

[KaaBoom]

I looked at Sylvan Dr. on Google Maps Street View. At first I thought it was someone's driveway. Absolutely no way a school bus should be there. Parts are actually two lanes, but the rest doesn't look wide enough for two small cars. MOO

Where I live, that is a normal school bus route. Some of the residential mountain roads around here are one lane with pull outs all the way to the top. At the top of the hill is a small gravel area marked "School Bus Turnaround". It's a tight turnaround even for my car. I have no idea how a school bus driver does it. I'd like to follow a school bus up there sometime and see how they do it, but there would be no place to park without blocking the bus.

 

[KaaBoom]

http://newschannel9.com/news/local/...s-to-be-replaced-will-have-experienced-driver


.Woodmore Elementary says school bus to be replaced, will have "experienced" driver

A post on the school's Facebook page from late Sunday night says "Bus 366 has been replaced with bus 357."

The post also says "The bus will be driven by an experienced driver," and "We will have an HCDE staff member ride all of our buses for the morning and afternoon route."

Great, they took an experienced driver off another route, and will now put a noob driver on that route. Problem solved.