Accomack County Bus Driver Gets Support From Community

NOTE: The venue for the Accomack County School Board meeting on the 20th of November  has been changed. The meeting will be held at Metompkin Elementary School in Parksley, Va. at 7:30 pm.  All supporters of the bus driver Leon Harmon are asked to attend.  You may speak if you wish or just be there to give your full support.

Written by:

Carol Vaughn
GREENBACKVILLE — News that an Accomack County school bus driver with nearly four decades on the job was asked to resign after a parent made a complaint resulted in a groundswell of support that spread via social media.

In response, the school board has moved its Tuesday meeting to a larger venue in anticipation of a large crowd.

At least two meetings have been held, a petition is being circulated and hundreds of messages about the matter have been posted on Facebook since Danny Outten posted a message on a Hampton Roads television station’s Facebook page last week, saying his daughter’s bus driver was “called down to the school board, where he was tricked into signing a paper that stated he would lose his pension of over 30 years.”

The posting within hours received scores of responses, including from the parent who complained. Her son told her the driver said to him, “If you talk one more time, I am going to put my hand in your mouth.” She did not allege the driver touched the student and said she told a school official she did not want the driver fired but wanted to make sure her son was safe.

The driver’s route ending at Kegotank Elementary School has 36 stops — 27 are in the Captain’s Cove subdivision. Multiple generations of families have ridden with the same driver according to online comments.
Ashley Hooper, whose two children ride the bus, helped set up a meeting Sunday at Captain’s Cove to form a plan of action to support the driver. A petition asking for his reinstatement was created as result; by midweek it already had about 250 signatures. It will be presented to the school board, Hooper said.

“Our main focus is how it was handled; we don’t feel an appropriate investigation was done before he was told, ‘Retire or you will be fired,’ ” she said.

Hooper spoke last week with Assistant Superintendent for Administration and Human Resources Rhonda Hall, asking what could be done. “I was told, ‘There’s nothing you can do; it’s a closed matter,’ ” Hooper said.

At the bus driver’s request, Advocate Connie Burford attended two meetings between him and Accomack County School Superintendent Bruce Benson as he made his way through the schools’ grievance process.

According to Burford, the driver was offered an alternative to termination — a different bus route from the one he has driven for more than 37 years. But he declined that offer and instead opted to appeal the decision to the school board.

Supporters say they will speak out on the driver’s behalf during a public comment period at the Tuesday board meeting, which begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be held at Metompkin Elementary School in Parksley.

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