Oct. 7—EDGEFIELD — Paige Durden, a Merriwether Elementary School mother, said her daughter was one of the young passengers on a school bus operated by Janice Waldorf, 62, when the driver was pulled over for a sobriety test and arrested Sept. 25.
“I panicked, because she’s on the bus, they’re on the side of the freeway, I don’t know what’s going on,” said Durden, recounting the moment she heard the news while she was still at work.
“Your heart sinks because here you are as the parent, you’re supposed to protect your child, you send them to school, you hope the best, you know, you rely on them to keep your child safe,” she said.
Waldorf was transporting second graders home from a field trip on Interstate 20 that day when a parent chaperone on the bus made a call to police dispatch as fellow parent and teacher chaperones noticed that Waldorf was swerving.
Reports from the S.C. State Transport Police say that Waldorf was unable to safely operate a vehicle due to the use of Central Nervous System Depressants, medications that can slow brain activity and can be used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders.
She was arrested on the scene and charged with driving under the influence and child endangerment.
She was found to be in possession of 17 bottles of prescription medication. Six of the bottles contained medications that had expired. Waldorf reportedly told law enforcement that she did not take daily medications.
Waldorf was terminated from her position as an Edgefield County School Bus Driver on Oct. 3, just over a week after her arrest.
“There was never any indication something of this magnitude would have been even remotely likely to occur,” said Edgefield County School District spokesperson Mike Rosier.
“Additionally, there were no signs of impairment or driving difficulty reported during the morning route,” he said.
According to Rosier, the school district received SCDOT physical and medical clearance for Waldorf less than two months ago.
Rosier said that prospective bus drivers not only undergo a criminal background and driving record check, they also must have a physical and medical examinations and drug and alcohol testing.
Their Commercial Drivers License must also be verified and before getting started in the role they go through training and orientation sessions.
Rosier said that bus drivers are subject to random drug testing.
“We are deeply grateful to the teacher and parent chaperones who were on board the bus that day,” Rosier said. “Their attentiveness and decisive action ensured the situation was resolved in the safest possible manner for students.”
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