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Bus driver arrested, DWI suspected
  
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By KASSIA MICEK
Conroe Independent School District police arrested a bus driver on suspicion of driving while intoxicated last Thursday as she prepared to pick up students for her afternoon route.
The CISD South County Transportation Center received a call around 1:45 p.m. reporting that bus No. 3030 was driving “erratically,” according to an e-mail from CISD Communications Director Kathy Clark. CISD police responded and arrested the driver, Denolda “Dee” Talley, of The Woodlands, at the Jett Continuing Education Center, located at West Lewis Street in Conroe.
“She had a cup. It was a travel up. It had some alcohol beverage in that,” CISD Police Chief Bill Harness said. “We could smell it was alcohol. We did do a test that confirmed it was alcohol.
“There was a usable amount of alcohol in the cup.”
No students were on the bus, Clark said. Talley’s route includes transporting students from The Woodlands High School to Jett and Hauke Alternative School for special programs in the morning. She then picks them up in the afternoon and returns them to TWHS, Clark said. Talley also drove a route for Collins Intermediate School in the morning.
“I’m shocked,” said Suzanne Auld, a Woodlands resident living near Collins. “I just can’t believe that. What’s next?”
Once the CISD South County Transportation Center received the call, officials tried to contact Talley via radio and were unsuccessful, Clark stated in the e-mail. That’s when officials determined she was en route to Jett and intercepted the bus there before students boarded.
CISD police performed a field sobriety test and then transported Talley to the Montgomery County Jail, where a breath test confirmed she had a blood-alcohol level of .104, Harness said. The legal limit in Texas is .08.
“This is a first,” Harness said. “We’ve never had a bus driver board a bus intoxicated that we’re aware of. I’ve never seen a bus driver go to jail for driving while intoxicated.
“Bus drivers take their job very seriously, and it is serious taking kids to and from school.”
Carroll Barby, who has grandchildren at Barbara Bush Elementary and McCullough Junior High, said parents of students Talley transported should have received notification of her arrest.
“There should have been a letter sent out to parents,” she said. “Kids could have been on the bus.”
CISD did not issue a notice to parents since no students were involved, Clark said.
Talley has been with the district since Dec. 5, 2000. She was terminated the same day, Clark said. It is CISD policy to terminate a bus driver who is arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence.
CISD conducts background checks on all prospective employees, including bus drivers. Drivers cannot have any DWI or driving under the influence arrest 10 years prior to employment with CISD, Clark stated in the e-mail. The district also performs random drug tests, including alcohol, on all bus drivers.
The route for bus No. 3030 was slightly delayed the afternoon of the incident, but a substitute bus driver quickly filled in to finish the route, Clark said. A substitute driver continues to drive the route.
A DWI first offense is a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000.
The CISD South County Transportation Center received a call around 1:45 p.m. reporting that bus No. 3030 was driving “erratically,” according to an e-mail from CISD Communications Director Kathy Clark. CISD police responded and arrested the driver, Denolda “Dee” Talley, of The Woodlands, at the Jett Continuing Education Center, located at West Lewis Street in Conroe.
“She had a cup. It was a travel up. It had some alcohol beverage in that,” CISD Police Chief Bill Harness said. “We could smell it was alcohol. We did do a test that confirmed it was alcohol.
“There was a usable amount of alcohol in the cup.”
No students were on the bus, Clark said. Talley’s route includes transporting students from The Woodlands High School to Jett and Hauke Alternative School for special programs in the morning. She then picks them up in the afternoon and returns them to TWHS, Clark said. Talley also drove a route for Collins Intermediate School in the morning.
“I’m shocked,” said Suzanne Auld, a Woodlands resident living near Collins. “I just can’t believe that. What’s next?”
Once the CISD South County Transportation Center received the call, officials tried to contact Talley via radio and were unsuccessful, Clark stated in the e-mail. That’s when officials determined she was en route to Jett and intercepted the bus there before students boarded.
CISD police performed a field sobriety test and then transported Talley to the Montgomery County Jail, where a breath test confirmed she had a blood-alcohol level of .104, Harness said. The legal limit in Texas is .08.
“This is a first,” Harness said. “We’ve never had a bus driver board a bus intoxicated that we’re aware of. I’ve never seen a bus driver go to jail for driving while intoxicated.
“Bus drivers take their job very seriously, and it is serious taking kids to and from school.”
Carroll Barby, who has grandchildren at Barbara Bush Elementary and McCullough Junior High, said parents of students Talley transported should have received notification of her arrest.
“There should have been a letter sent out to parents,” she said. “Kids could have been on the bus.”
CISD did not issue a notice to parents since no students were involved, Clark said.
Talley has been with the district since Dec. 5, 2000. She was terminated the same day, Clark said. It is CISD policy to terminate a bus driver who is arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence.
CISD conducts background checks on all prospective employees, including bus drivers. Drivers cannot have any DWI or driving under the influence arrest 10 years prior to employment with CISD, Clark stated in the e-mail. The district also performs random drug tests, including alcohol, on all bus drivers.
The route for bus No. 3030 was slightly delayed the afternoon of the incident, but a substitute bus driver quickly filled in to finish the route, Clark said. A substitute driver continues to drive the route.
A DWI first offense is a class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $4,000.
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