Former D-38 Bus Driver Calls Foul, District Responds
A former District 38 bus driver said she was wrongfully fired for trying to do what she considered safe and efficient.
Teresa Blake has been working for the district for five years. She said she has never had a bad evaluation and has tried her best to keep her kids safe and the district happy.
Blake showed KRDO NewsChannel 13 the letter that officially terminated her job with D-38. It listed two specific reasons that the district was concerned about her job performance.
The first was an incident that happened on March 9. That’s when Blake refused to back her bus up into a wash bay. Blake said she did not want to do so because she did not feel it was safe.
She pointed out a section in the district’s bus driver manual that says backing should be avoided as much as possible.
The other incident that was pointed out was when Blake took a different bus route and students accused her of looking for houses for sale. Blake said she was actually trying a different route to save the district money.
She said she found the route to be shorter, but management would not listen to her.
Blake said she feels she has been shamed even though she was just trying to do her best.
KRDO NewsChannel 13 spoke to District 38 about Blake’s concerns. They pointed out that they offered to let her work until the end of the school year because she was not a direct safety threat.
Robin Adair is the district’s community relations manager. She said Blake chose to end her employment immediately.
Adair said there were never any concerns about Blake’s road skills, but pointed out that there are other considerations when it comes to employment.
She stressed that every employee has the opportunity to address their concerns and that Blake also had that opportunity.
Blake said she would not work as a bus driver in District 38 again, but she loves to work with children and hopes to find a job doing so soon. Her husband is still working as a bus driver in the district.
