A Tennessee lawmaker is working to reverse a law that raised the minimum age of school bus drivers after a deadly crash in Chattanooga.
In November 2016, a Hamilton County bus carrying 37 Woodmore Elementary School students swerved off Talley Road, crashed into a utility pole, flipped over and hit a tree. The crash left six students dead and dozens injured.
(READ MORE: Remembering the 6 children who died in the Woodmore bus crash)
Johnthony Walker, the driver, was 24 at the time of the crash. Walker was found guilty in 2018 on six counts of criminally negligent homicide, 11 counts of reckless aggravated assault and seven counts of assault.
Photo Gallery
Lawmaker wants to reverse change that resulted from Chattanooga Woodmore school bus crash
The same year, a Tennessee law went into effect that raised the minimum age from 21 to 25 for an individual to receive a school bus driver’s license endorsement. The bill, house bill 322, came from the Tennessee Department of Safety and was carried by state Rep. David Hawk, R-Greeneville.
This year, house bill 84, sponsored by state Rep. Mike Sparks, R-Smyrna, aims to lower the minimum age back to 21. The bill passed a transportation subcommittee 6-3 in late February and passed the full transportation committee 11-7 on Tuesday.
Sparks said lowering the age to 21 would help address a driver shortage.
An employee from the state’s safety department testified against Sparks’ bill at the committee. She said that the shortage of commercial and bus drivers was a result of an expensive and lengthy driver training program mandated by the federal government.
Sparks said Hawk’s bill to raise the age was a “knee-jerk reaction” to the fatal accident in 2016 and that safety department officials failed to discuss the driver’s criminal record (including charges of statutory rape) in their testimony at the legislature.
After a jury found Walker guilty of causing the school bus crash, he was sentenced to four years in prison. Walker didn’t have a criminal record at the time, so he didn’t qualify for more severe punishment under state law and was eligible for parole after serving just over a year of his sentence.
In 2019, three years after the accident, Walker was indicted on eight counts of statutory rape and pleaded guilty.
“The county didn’t do their due diligence,” Sparks said. “They shouldn’t have hired the guy.”
In 2019, Hamilton County Schools cut ties with Durham School Services, the bus company that supplied the bus and driver involved in the Woodmore crash, and has since contracted with First Student Inc.
(READ MORE: Woodmore bus crash: Can county turn back clock on bus privatization?)
State Rep. Greg Vital, R-Harrison, voted against HB 84.
“I’m opposed to dropping the age from 25 on behalf of my community,” Vital said at the meeting.
By phone, Vital said his opposition to the legislation was about public safety and was not a blanket judgment about the ability of young drivers to operate school buses.
“It really seems that career pathing for school bus drivers,” Vital said by phone, “has gotten ahead of the most important issue, and that’s public safety.”
The safety department employee said Walker, the driver from the Chattanooga crash, did not have a full driving history and had priors on his record that should have prevented him from being a school bus driver.
State Rep. Michele Reneau, R-Hixson, asked the employee what was on the driver’s record, and the employee said she did not have the specific information.
“I feel like, if there was a previous driving record, that that would be a greater indicator of someone who might not be capable to drive,” Reneau said at the meeting, “versus automatically discounting everyone because of an age.”
Reneau said she would like to see exceptions made for younger drivers who come recommended and are already working in the school system.
“I think the teachers, parents, administration would love to have someone like that,” Reneau said, “who already is familiar with the children, who already has likely earned the respect of the students on the bus, who would not have some of the issues of someone who is not known.”
Reneau said there are a lot of young people who are mature beyond their years and should have the opportunity to drive school buses within safety guidelines. Reneau voted in favor of the bill in both the subcommittee and full transportation committee.
“I think it’s a horrible bill,” Hawk said by phone. “I don’t feel we need to address any bus driver shortage by lessening restrictions on who can drive a bus.”
Hawk, who carried the bill to raise the minimum age, voted against Sparks’ bill.
The bill is on the house calendar for Monday.
“This is a very emotional issue for Hamilton County,” Hawk said. “I dislike the fact that old wounds have been opened up again by even having this debate.”
Contact Sarah Dolgin at sdolgin@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6556.