Audit Finds Pa. School Bus Drivers With Criminal Convictions
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HARRISBURG, Pa. (KDKA/AP) - A state audit says ineligible drivers have been allowed to get behind the wheel of Pennsylvania school buses, including five with disqualifying criminal convictions in a single district.
The report Tuesday by the state auditor general's office says 21 of 132 bus drivers in the Lancaster School District didn't meet employment standards.
It says five Lancaster drivers had criminal convictions that should have kept them from doing jobs that involve direct contact with kids.
Democratic Auditor General Eugene DePasquale says that in audits over the past five years, his agency also found five other drivers in three districts who weren't eligible because of convictions.
The school district says the bus company has since removed the ineligible drivers and the district has changed its oversight process for driver qualifications.
Two drivers in the Penn Hills School District were also found to be ineligible in 2015.
"When the information was brought to our attention, the District took immediate action and had both drivers removed," said a spokesperson for the district. "In addition, the contract with that bus company was terminated at the end of the fiscal year."
Audits dating back to July 1, 2008 also found deficiencies in bus driver records in the following local school districts.
Allegheny County
Moon Area
Clairton City
Duquesne City
Avonworth
Brentwood Borough
Sto-Rox
Woodland Hills
Wilkinsburg Borough
Armstrong County
Lenape Technical School
Apollo Ridge
Beaver County
Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School
Fayette County
Brownsville Area
Laurel Highlands
Lawrence County
Ellwood City Area
Union Area
Washington County
Chartiers Houston
Westmoreland County
Hempfield Area
The Auditor General's office says the Woodland Hills, Ellwood City Area, Union Area and Chartiers Houston school districts, as well as Lenape Technical School, corrected the deficiencies, and auditors verified the corrective action in subsequent audits.
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