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School bus incident may lead to charges

By Estuardo Garcia - | Dec 12, 2007

Two women could be brought up on charges of disorderly conduct after an incident Thursday involving a Tonganoxie School District bus driver.

The incident occurred after Jacey May, 7, was told to relocate to a seat near Myrle Leavitt, the bus driver, after causing a disruption in the bus, Lt. Andy Dedeke of the Leavenworth County Sheriff’s Office said Monday.

Sarah Hoppins, Jacey’s mother, said she had received a text message from her 12-year-old daughter, Kaitlin Hoppins, about an incident involving Kaitlin and her cheerleading uniform.

Hoppins and her neighbor Jeanie Fields met the bus at the bus stop at the Paradise trailer park, south of Tonganoxie, and got into a verbal altercation with Leavitt, according to reports.

Dedeke said the case still was under investigation and no charges have been filed by the county attorney. However, Dedeke said, it’s possible disorderly conduct charges could be filed against Hoppins and Fields.

Hoppins and Fields said they have had problems with Leavitt in the past and were frustrated with the way the school district’s handled their complaints.

Leavitt did not comment on the situation and referred all questions to the school district.

Richard Erickson, the district superintendent, said he could not comment specifically on the incident and referred The Mirror to the Sheriff’s Office. But Erickson said the district rarely has any problems with its bus drivers.

The district’s school buses are not equipped with video cameras.