Foxboro schools probe bus complaint

A school bus driver in Foxboro has been suspended with pay, pending an investigation into a complaint she dropped off a 10-year-old middle school student on busy street a quarter-mile from her home.

The driver was driving a late bus on a route assigned to her Monday afternoon, and adhered to that route, but school officials questioned the driver's judgment, school officials told the Sun Chronicle.

Superintendent Christopher Martes told the newspaper that the suspension does not mean the driver did anything wrong, but that the school needs time to sort out the details.

Martes said the driver was never given an updated route list when she dropped the child off at the corner of Spring and Central streets last Monday afternoon, which had been the last stop on the late run from Ahern Middle School. Martes told the Sun Chronicle there’s a question of whether the driver - even though following her assigned route - could have used better judgment and taken the only child left on the bus straight home.

The girl's parents, Mark and Lisa Newhook, filed a complaint last Monday night with Foxboro police and aired their concerns Tuesday morning at the school department, first with bus administrators and later with Martes.

The superintendent told the Sun Chronicle the school department "made a mistake," and wants to learn all the facts in the hope of avoiding such incidents in the future.

For more on this story, visit TheSunChronicle.com .