MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Numerous changes are being made to try to ensure Shelby County School bus drivers are qualified to transport children.
That announcement was made five days after a bus driver was arrested while in possession of marijuana on a school bus and after a series of bus crashes since the beginning of the school year.
Durham School Services is contracted to provide busing for SCS. Durham worked for years with SCS before the merger with Memphis City Schools. The current contract is worth more than $100 million a year.
David Duke, the president of DSS, said recruiting qualified bus drivers has been a challenge. Duke said only 13% of applicants are hired because most cannot pass literacy and drug screening tests. In the 2014-2015 school year, more than 30 school bus drivers have been terminated according to Duke.
Both SCS and DSS promise to re-screen all drivers for drugs and criminal backgrounds over the next week. The frequency of random drug screenings will increase, and a new recruitment plan will be put into plan for 2015. Also, a third-party company will be hired to review background checks.
Currently, drivers receive a minimum of 60 hours of training before transporting students. That training includes classroom and behind the wheel classes.
Marsai Catron, 29, was driving students to a basketball event November 1 when someone complained about a strong drug odor.
Catron plead guilty to an aggravated assault charge in 2009.
Police have also arrested him twice for driving with a suspended license, though the charges were never prosecuted.
At a Thursday news conference, officials said Catron should never been hired to be a school bus driver.
SCS background checks will alert if a potential hire has a history of, “child abuse, severe child abuse, child sexual abuse, or child neglect,” but currently does not specifically mention assault.
Superintendent Dorsey Hopson said violence will “preclude you from working around kids.”