As you may be aware, there was an incident involving one of our sports teams that occurred Friday evening.
On Friday, Feb. 11, a Cohoes coach called 911 when she became concerned about a contracted bus driver who was transporting students from an athletic event. New York State Police responded and stopped the bus. It is the district’s understanding that the driver was subsequently arrested. The bus company, Durham School Services, provided another driver to transport students safely back to the district.
The driver is an employee of Durham School Services. The district contracts with Durham for athletic events and field trips; however, other transportation needs are fulfilled through a different school bus service.
This incident is obviously concerning and the district is taking this very seriously. We have reached out to Durham for a review of their hiring, screening and training protocols that are in place to make sure students are safely transported to and from school events. The safety of our students is our highest priority, and we are committed to doing everything possible to ensure their well-being both on school property and while being transported to and from school events.
I want to commend the coach for her quick actions in addressing the situation and thank the team for remaining calm and providing support to each other during this incident.
Because this is an ongoing New York State police investigation, the district cannot comment on any additional specifics of the incident.