A school bus driver in Schoharie County is under arrest and is accused of driving his bus drunk with 13 students on board. While the school district is staying quiet about that driver's future, school officials are praising the one student on the bus,who spoke up. Geoff Redick reports.
GILBOA, N.Y. -- Citing a personnel issue, district officials refused to comment on Tuesday about the future of a Gilboa-Conesville bus driver who was arrested for driving his afternoon route while intoxicated.
Daniel Mowers, 42, remained locked in Schoharie County Jail on $15,000 bail Tuesday afternoon. On Monday, state police arrested Mowers at the Gilboa-Conesville bus garage, when he failed a field sobriety test shortly after stepping off his school bus. Police were alerted after one of the students on Mowers route told a parent that the bus driver was acting erratic.
"I had a parent call me at approximately 5:05pm with concerns. Ultimately, the state police were here and investigated, and now it's in their hands.," said Superintendent Ruth Reeve.
Reeve declined to say more, pending an ongoing investigation, however, she did confirm that Mowers has been a bus driver in the district for about two years.
Police later found Mowers blood-alcohol content at 0.12. He was charged with 12 counts of Leandra's Law DWI, a special charge in New York that heightens penalties for those who drive drunk with children in the vehicle. Mowers was charged once for each child under 16-years-old on his bus.
Mowers is also facing a felony DWI and 13 counts of endangering the welfare of a child. He was arraigned Monday and is due back in court on Thursday evening.
On Tuesday, school officials praised the student who reported the erratic driving.
"One of the things that is very important to us is that children are very comfortable sharing concerns that they have, about anything," said principal Tom Santacrose, who is committed to regain any sense of lost trust anyone has regarding this case.
"Earning and maintaining the trust of our students and our parents is something we work at every day," Santacrose said.
"We acted on this as quickly as possible, we're doing whatever we can to cooperate with police and ensure the safety of our kids. That's always our number one concern," added Reeve.