Bus driver fired at school board meeting after DUI charge

NICHOLAS COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) - On March 8, a Nicholas County school bus driver was arrested on DUI charges.

Tuesday evening at a special school board meeting, Casey Dodrill was fired along with another bus driver who allegedly knew Dodrill was intoxicated.

For the parents who had kids on the bus that day, like Greg Groves, this is something he’s been waiting for.

“I’m glad the board pursued to the fullest extent of their powers to terminate,” he said. “That was definitely needed.”

The Nicholas County Board of Education previously said an aide with the school district called West Virginia State Police to report bus driver Casey Dodrill after they noticed he was driving erratically while taking students home from Richwood High School and Gauley River Elementary.

Nicholas County Superintendent Dr. Donna Burge-Tetrick recommended the school board fire both drivers.

“He failed the field sobriety test and registered at a .118 on the breathalyzer test, she said. “He admitted to the arresting officer that he had been drinking and driving.”

Nicholas County Board of Education President Weldon Perrine said during an executive session, the board watched a video from that day with both drivers on the bus.

“The one who admitted on the video that he was too drunk to read his phone,” Perrine said. “He said it three different times. He was too drunk. So that’s how we determined that the other driver knew that he should have stepped up.”

Once hearing all the evidence, Perrine said there was no question both drivers should lose their jobs.

The final vote was a unanimous 5-0.

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