UPDATE: MCPSS reassigns bus driver to different role after bus overturned in February
UPDATE (5:37 p.m.): A school bus driver accused of falling asleep at the wheel right before a crash will not be fired despite calls from the superintendent.
Instead, she'll stay on board as a bus aide.
The school board disputed some of the details of the crash report, including why the bus went off the road. News 5 has learned the reason for today's decision goes beyond the crash.
At a hearing before the Mobile County School Board, Angela Weaver learned her fate with the district.
She still has a job but not as a driver.
Weaver was behind the wheel of a bus that overturned back in February on Mason Ferry Road in west Mobile County.
Weaver and six students were injured.
The crash report said she fell asleep at the wheel and ran off the road.
But her attorney says that's not true, that the bus had a history of pulling to the side — something the attorney said Weaver reported to the school district months before the crash.
'We're talking about an over-ten-year bus driver with no disciplinary record prior to this accident,' attorney Lasheryl Dotch said. 'And so we understand that, you know, some injuries and minor injuries resulted, but we wanted to make it clear that it was not intentional at the hands of Mrs. Weaver. The bus pulling to the right was never acknowledged. There was no maintenance ever done on that part.'
Weaver was placed on leave after the crash but returned to work days later and has not been charged.
The school board approved moving Weaver to be a bus aide with no drop in pay.
School district officials told News 5 that Weaver would not return as a driver because she has several speeding tickets on her personal record that she did not disclose, and the system the district uses to check driving records did not reveal Weaver's tickets.
'(We're) covered by insurance that cover(s) all our bus drivers, and she's not insurable,' said Mobile County School Board President Reginald Crenshaw. 'The insurance will say that she's not qualified to drive a bus. We will not put her behind the bus.'
According to the job listing, Weaver will now help students on and off the bus, monitoring their behavior and supporting their safety and comfort.
UPDATE (11:10 a.m.): Mobile County Public School System board members have made a decision on whether to fire Angela Weaver, a driver whose in February.
The board has decided to let Weaver return as a bus aide, but not a driver.
A bus aide is responsible for helping students get on and off the bus and monitoring their behavior.
PREVIOUS REPORTING
MOBILE COUNTY, Ala. (WKRG) — A Mobile County Public School System bus driver accused of falling asleep behind the wheel, leading to a crash, will appear before the school board Tuesday after the school system superintendent recommended firing her.
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According to an Alabama Law Enforcement Agency crash report, Angela Lane Weaver fell asleep behind the wheel on Mason Ferry Road in February. The bus overturned and several students were injured.
Weaver's attorneys sent out a news release claiming she did not fall asleep behind the wheel, but the bus 'pulled to the right causing it to go off the road.'
Weaver says she reported the malfunction at the end of the 2023-24 school year, but when she returned in August nothing had been done to fix the problem.
Her attorneys say Superintendent Chresal Threadgill did not investigate the cause of the crash, and he had Weaver return to work a few days after the incident.
The ALEA crash report also stated Weaver was traveling nine miles above the speed limit. There was no mention of this in the attorneys' news release.
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'Ms. Weaver is looking forward to telling the School Board what really happened that day,' read the release. 'Ms. Weaver has been driving for the Mobile County Schools for over a decade and has had no previous discipline issues. She is eager to return to work when the new school year starts.'
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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