A Chester County school bus driver has been placed on leave after video surfaced online showing a bus filled with kids traveling through high flood waters.
Coatesville Area School District solicitor James Ellison confirmed on Tuesday that the bus, which was operated by contractor Krapf Bus Company, was contracted by the district.
Ellison said the driver, whose name has not been released and is a Krapf employee, has been placed on leave as the bus company conducts an investigation into what happened.
NBC10.com first told you about the incident last Friday. East Fallowfield Township residents recorded two different videos of a school bus traveling through at least 3 foot deep flood waters covering Mortonville Road around 5 p.m. last Wednesday. Nearly 24 hours worth of rain turned some area roads, creeks and rivers into deluges that day.
Liz Rach told NBC10.com she watched on as the bus drive over a 20-foot-long telephone pole submerged in the waters.
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"He asked if he could get through, and we told him no," Rach said. "He asked what was up the bend, and I told him it was going to get worse because it gets lower. Then he said he could make it."
The bus did make it through the water without incident, but witnesses were livid over the driver's decision to navigate the waters.
The Coatesville Area School District and Krapf Bus Company initially told NBC10.com that they didn't believe the bus belonged to them. On Tuesday, however, they confirmed the bus was carrying students from Elligium Charter School and was contracted by the district.
Ellison said the district has asked that the driver be barred from driving on any of their routes in the future.
As for potential criminal charges, officials have yet to make a decision, Ellison said.
