On Saturday, Oakley Union Elementary School District Superintendent Greg Hetrick said no citation was issued by the California Highway Patrol after a train track incident on Thursday.
The investigation came after students on a bus said they had a close call with a train after it reportedly stopped on the tracks and several parents had to tell the bus driver to move the bus.
On Thursday, we received the following email from a parent:
Kids were picked up on the school bus by a substitute driver. The driver ran though the railroad track and broke the gate that closes when the train is approaching , From my 12 niece who was on the bus states that the driver ran through the gate and stopped on the tracks she and the other kids say that the train was coming and blowing its whistle. Driver sat there for a minute then finally started to drive again. He did not attempt to get the kids off the bus or calm them down. Some kids did post video of it on social media.
Parents have reported him to the Oakley transportation department they state they will be investigating it. Driver denies it happened . Please post this to make sure this isn’t over looked
An email to the District was not returned until Saturday when Hetrick confirmed the bus did get hit on the crossing arm.
His email stated the following:
Good morning, based on an investigation the bus did get hit by the crossing arm. The bus stopped and opened the door and when it started going again the arm came down and struck the bus. The driver stopped and backed up. After the train passed the bus continued on its route and dropped off all students. CHP investigated and no citation was given.
Have a great day.
Greg
Video of the incident has not yet been released, but according to Hetrick, it shows a different story than what is being told by students on the bus.
