Bus driver back to work after suspension in student knife incident

HARDIN COUNTY, Tenn. — A bus driver is back on the road after being suspended.

In September, a concerned parent reached out to WBBJ, stating that a male child brought a knife onto a school bus in Hardin County and was showing it to other students.

According to the parent, the incident happened on his daughter’s school bus on Friday, September 12.

The parent claimed multiple children informed the bus driver of the knife, however, it was allegedly not confiscated at that time by the driver. The parent claimed that the knife was later confiscated by a SRO at the school, after a student informed a staff member of the incident.

Disciplinary action has allegedly been taken at the school against the student, however, with the involvement of a minor, those details have not been confirmed to us by school officials.

While reaching out to gather more information, it was determined that the driver is employed by Summit School Services. We reached out to them for a statement and received the following:

We can confirm that an incident occurred on our bus where a student was in possession of a knife. The knife was safely recovered and, thankfully, no one was injured. As a result of this incident, the student is not riding the bus for the rest of the school year.

As per our standard practice, the driver was removed from service pending investigation of the incident. Following an extensive investigation, the driver was returned to duty.

The identity of the driver has not been confirmed to us by authorities or school officials.

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