Hillsborough County Public Schools Information and Technology
Information Item

DATE: Tuesday, January 26, 2010
TO: School Board Members
FROM: MaryEllen Elia, Superintendent

SUBJECT / RECOMMENDATIONS

Recognize Shields Middle School Bus Drivers for Their Professionalism During a Bus Incident

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Shields Middle School bus drivers Cindy Fulwood and Gerald Wickline were transporting students to school the morning of Wednesday, January 13, 2010, when Ms. Fulwood saw a man acting erratically in the middle of Highway 301. She stopped her bus in order to avoid hitting the man, and he approached the driver side window. When she refused to let him on the bus, he grabbed the side mirror and climbed onto the bus roof. He then forced open the locked escape hatch and lowered himself into the bus. As Ms. Fulwood talked to him and kept his attention on her, the students remembered what they learned in their emergency drills and exited through the back door of the bus. Ms. Fulwood refused the man’s request to drive him to school, so he forced open the bus door and exited. He then approached Mr. Wickline’s bus and convinced him to open the door by suggesting something was wrong with Ms. Fulwood or her bus. When Mr. Wickline realized that something was wrong with the man, he told him to get off the bus. The man exited, climbed onto the top of the bus, walked to the back and jumped off, then crawled through the back door. After crawling through to the front of the bus, he again exited through the front door and sat in front of the bus, where he was arrested by Hillsborough County Sheriff´s deputies.

ANNUAL DISTRICT GOAL(S) AND CRITICAL SUCCESS FACTOR(S)

* Recruit, develop, and retain a highly effective, diverse workforce, * Promote a culture of safety, which is free from harassment, bullying, and aggression

FINANCIAL IMPACT (Budgeted: No)

N/A

EVALUATION

N/A

SUBMITTED BY:

Linda Cobbe
External Communications Manager
(813) 272-4602
David J. Steele, Ph.D.
Chief Information and Technology Officer and Project Director, Empowering Effective Teachers Grant
(813) 272-4600
C 02
Hillsborough County Public Schools (Florida) * Mtg.#20100126_392 * Section C Item# 02