Editor’s note: This article is by Jordan Cuddemi of the
Valley News, in which it was first published Oct. 28, 2015.
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A 34-year-old Northfield man pleaded not guilty Tuesday to driving a school bus to Whitcomb Junior-Senior High School — bound for a field trip to Boston — under the influence of alcohol.
According to a police affidavit, Jenkinson on Oct. 8 was scheduled to drive a bus of Whitcomb students nearly 2 1/2 hours to Boston. But in the school lobby on the morning of the trip, a paraprofessional detected the odor of alcohol on Jenkinson’s breath, the affidavit said.
The woman told a teacher who in turn told Whitcomb Principal Owen Bradley. Bradley then called Vermont State Police.
Jenkinson worked for First Student, a bus charter company the Bethel School District contracted with for the Boston field trip. He has since been fired from the company, according to First Student spokesman Jay Brock. Brock declined further comment.
Court documents indicate Jenkinson had a blood alcohol content between .09 and .10. The legal limit for an adult driver of a passenger vehicle is .08; the limit for a school bus driver is .02.
Jenkinson told police he had one glass of wine with dinner on Oct. 7, and that his last drink was at midnight, according to the affidavit. He told police he had nothing to drink on the day of the field trip.
The Bethel School District, which includes Bethel Elementary School and Whitcomb Junior-Senior High School, has its own transportation services, so it employs its own bus drivers, Bradley said.
But the field trip was going to interrupt end-of-the-school-day pickup times, so Bradley decided to contract with First Student for two buses and two drivers to take 50 band and chorus students to Boston to see the musical Cinderella.
Twenty-five of those students would have been on Jenkinson’s bus had the paraprofessional not spoken up, Bradley said.
“She’s the hero of the day,” he said.
The field trip went on as scheduled, Bradley said. One of the school’s drivers was called in to transport half of the students on a district-owned bus, while the others road on a First Student bus. The daily school bus routes were consolidated to allow for the last-minute switch, Bradley said.
“It is horrible that one outsider might make the rest of our internal drivers look bad,” he said.
Attempts to reach Jenkinson on Tuesday were unsuccessful.
He will next appear in the White River Junction courthouse on Jan. 6.
Jenkinson is the third bus driver in the Upper Valley — and with Bethel ties — to face drinking-related charges in the past two years.
In November 2013, 61-year-old Kent Quillia, of Hartford, was charged with driving students from Hartford to Bethel under the influence of alcohol. Quillia, who drove for Butler’s Bus Service, was also charged with gross negligent operation of a vehicle and reckless endangerment in connection with the September 2013 incident.
As part of a plea deal in February 2014, Quillia pleaded guilty to gross negligent operation and reckless endangerment, and the state dismissed the DUI charge.
Months later, Carl H. Lupton, 58, of Bethel, was charged with driving students from Hartford to Royalton under the influence of alcohol. Lupton, who also drove for Butler’s Bus Service, was also charged with child cruelty in the March 2014 incident.
In August 2014, Lupton pleaded guilty to the DUI charge, and the state dismissed the cruelty charge.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.
