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Gloucester parent sues schools over bus incident

A parent is suing the Gloucester County School Board and a bus driver after her child reportedly fell asleep and was left on his school bus for seven hours in January. The suit seeks $500,000 in damages from the board and $250,000 from the driver.

The suit, filed in Gloucester Circuit Court on March 25 by parent Stephanie Tuttle on behalf of her son by the KB Murov Law Firm in Newport News, states that her son was picked up by school bus driver Dawn Barkers at 8 a.m. on Jan. 22 and he fell asleep on the way to Achilles Elementary. 

The suit claims the driver “failed to perform a basic, common sense check of the bus” before parking it next to the school. It further states that the boy, a fifth grader with a 504 plan, was neglected on the bus for approximately seven hours in freezing temperatures until the end of the school day. 

The suit further states that the board was grossly negligent in that it had no procedure in place to account for the boy’s absenc...

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