INDIAN RIVER COUNTY — An Indian River County school bus driver who was accused in December of texting and talking on her cell phone while driving her bus has been relieved of duty.
The Indian River County School Board unanimously approved Schools Superintendent Dr. Mark Rendell’s recommendation to terminate Geneva Beasley’s job.
Beasley addressed the Board prior to the vote, seeking a hearing during which the Board would be able to review the case.
“I was not texting and driving,” she implored the Board, also noting that she has worked for the School District for 20 years without reprimand.
Support staff, such as bus drivers, are part of the District’s collective bargaining unit, the CWA – Communication Workers of America. As such, they must follow the CWA’s protocol for contesting termination.
Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Dr. Bill Fritz told the School Board that CWA employees have a grievance process that would allow for the possibility of a hearing.
School Board member Claudia Jimenez told the Board that she had reviewed several videos in question and wondered if it were possible that Beasley’s use of her phone coincided with the transportation base’s request for her to call in.
According to the District’s Standard Operating Procedures, a bus driver is allowed to use a cell phone to call into base only after the bus has pulled safely off the road, preferably onto District property, and has stopped.
Fritz said there was no evidence that any of the times Beasley used her phone came at the behest of transportation base’s request for her to call in.