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Baltimore Co. Schools address rumors of bus driver being fired

Posted at 4:30 PM, Oct 13, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-13 17:55:16-04

Several Baltimore County parents are upset after hearing rumors the school bus driver seen in that viral video of a man hopping on the hood of the school bus has been fired.

However, Baltimore County Public Schools says that’s not true.

After seeing the cellphone video of 68-year-old Laverne Doran clinging onto a school bus, parents say the bus driver who prevented Doran from getting on board is a hero.

“He put, in my opinion, his life in front of theirs. I believe there were 8 to 10 students on the bus at that point and he did everything in his power to make sure they were safe. My son was actually the first one that the man could’ve gotten to and he put himself between my son and the man,” Heidi Tenenbaum said.

Her son, Nick, had a front row seat – a few rows back from all the action.

RELATED: Attorney for man who jumped on Baltimore Co. bus speaks out

According to Baltimore County Police, Doran was furious about a bottle that hit his car last Thursday. Doran thought the bottle came from the bus and hopped on the hood attempting to stop the bus from going any further.

“When you get a great bus driver you don’t want to let him go. Those are lives and our babies that he’s taking to and from and Nick has loved him from day one. He’s been great,” Tenenbaum said.

The Facebook group BCPS Transportation Advocacy claims days after the incident, the bus driver was fired.

Baltimore County Schools sent a statement:

“The driver is still a BCPS employee. We cannot release any other information at this time as this is an ongoing police matter,” Mychael Dickerson.

Doran was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct. He’s since been released.

Tenenbaum says she hasn’t seen the bus driver, and thinks Doran’s move was over the top.

“There’s so many other ways you can do that. Take the bus number down, call the school, and you can keep pushing until the school does something, but that was certainly overkill what he did,” Tenenbaum said.