Some 50 members of the New Palestine community showed up at the Southern Hancock School Board meeting in support of a longtime school bus driver who the district dismissed after saying the driver was operating a bus in an unsafe manner.
NEW PALESTINE — For more than 15 years, longtime New Palestine resident Lorrie Hamilton drove students for the Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock County without incident. She was recently let go after district officials say she broke Indiana Code using her cell phone while driving, something Hamilton said did not happen.
Hamilton and those who support her say the firing goes much deeper and said Hamilton was let go only two days after going to the administrative offices in late October where she complained about a hostile work environment surrounding a bus mechanic in the transportation department.
Nearly 50 community members who support Hamilton and disapproved of the firing showed up Monday at the regularly scheduled school board meeting to voice their concern surrounding the dismissal.
School Board President Dan Walker addressed the group after five people spoke on Hamilton’s behalf. He told the crowd he appreciated and even understood their passion and support of Hamilton. Walker then noted he could not comment much about the situation as the matter has been sent to the Indiana Department of Education.
“I know everyone sitting up here and in the audience will always, always, always put the safety of our students as the number one priority,” Walker said. “This is an emotional topic.”
Hamilton, who did not attend the meeting, told the Daily Reporter earlier Monday that her troubles started in May when she began having issues with a mechanic after she had been given a trip to drive students, one she claims the mechanic had wanted, but didn’t get.
“Afterwards, he started harassing me and it’s been a nightmare ever since,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton said she informed the district’s Transportation Director, Bob Martin, about the harassment, but that’s when things became worse.
“Out of the blue, in July, I got called to the corporate office for an issue for something that happened two months prior, but was told I didn’t have to sign the complaint because Martin had waited too long to address it,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton noted there were two incidents discussed last summer. The first incident was not coming to a complete stop at a railroad track when students were not on the bus, and the second was texting after she had stopped with no students on the bus.
“I did stop at the railroad tracks, opened my door, but he said I didn’t stop long enough,” Hamilton said. “As for the text, I was completely stopped and there were no kids on board.”
Hamilton then had a scheduled appointment with corporation officials to discuss the harassment issue further on Oct. 26. Two days later, she was called in and fired for an incident, she said.
Cindy Story, a longtime district employee, spoke on behalf of Hamilton at the school board meeting and implored district officials to investigate and not only look at the video, but to talk to people at the bus garage to find out what is going on.
“Lorrie was clearly targeted, them watching her bus video looking for the slightest mistake the day after she had reported a hostile work environment,” Story said. “How ironic.”
Hamilton was officially fired Oct. 28 after she made an unexpected stop to help another student, causing her to inadvertently miss picking up another student on her route.
“I was stopped, my foot was on the break, but yes, I texted the mom and told her I had missed picking up her child but was coming to get the kid and that’s why they fired me,” Hamilton said. “I feel like they were watching my video every single day just waiting for me to make a mistake ever since that meeting this past summer as well as the meeting two days before I was fired.”
Hamilton’s husband, Kelly, also spoke on his wife’s behalf Monday night and told the board during his wife’s 15 year career she’d never had a single driving violation by law enforcement or any other issues prior to the one with the bus mechanic and that she took her job seriously.
“There is no bus driver who has more miles driven than Lorrie,” he said. “I assume the problems stem from a whistle-blowing event that has now come to haunt her … And shame on the corporation for allowing this.”
After the meeting, Hamilton told the Daily Reporter his wife had her bus driver license taken away late last week by state safety officials. Lorrie Hamilton told the Daily Reporting she is appealing the suspension with the State School Bus Committee and had five days to do so.
The Daily Reporter reached out to the IDOE to see if they planned to investigate the situation and they replied, “per Indiana Code, the use of a telecommunications device while operating a moving motor vehicle is illegal.”
Holly Lawson, deputy director of communications for the IDOE, said the Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock alerted IDOE that Hamilton used her cell phone while operating a school bus, which has led to the revocation of her Indiana School Bus Certificate for six months effective Nov. 10.
“In order to regain her Indiana School Bus Certificate, Hamilton must wait six months and also re-complete the Entry Level Driver Training course required of all school bus drivers in Indiana,” Lawson said in an email to the Daily Reporter.
