By PAT NEWMAN
pnewman@thecitizennews.com

Valerie Crook is not about to give up. The Fayetteville school bus driver plans to file a civil suit against the Fayette County School District citing policy violations over her termination in September.

“It's going from the political court into the judicial court,” Crook said Monday night following the Board of Education's decision to uphold her termination. She was let go by transportation supervisor John Thompson after her involvement in a third accident in less than a year.

Superintendent Dr. John DeCotis said he agreed with Thompson's decision to fire Crook, based on her driving record which contained two incidents of bumping into the rear ends of other school buses, and another accident in which Crook reportedly rear-ended a truck on Ga. Highway 85.

“I feel Thompson was concerned about safety and so many accidents in such a short time,” DeCotis said. He cited the employee handbook as backup for the decision which “provides for the severity of the situation.”

Crook appealed to the board in September, and Chairman Debbie Condon advised her to go through the employee grievance process. DeCotis' support of Thompson's action brought her back to the board Monday night to ask one more time for a solution.

“I did not come here to beg for my job back. I came here tonight to respectfully tell you that you have caused me extreme injury and hurt, pain and financial harm, and devastation and suffering,” Crook said. She also had a three-inch ring binder containing documentation of her case. ”I feel that you have unlawfully used unfair labor practices and that you have unlawfully violated my rights as protected by the first, fifth and fourteenth amendments of the Constitution of the United States...”

She was represented Monday night by Elsie Jones of the Georgia Association of Educators. Jones asked that the board determine whether they actually had a progressive discipline policy. Crook was not given notice or put on probation, Jones said. “It was immediate and hard punishment.”

The afternoon of the rear-end collision on Hwy. 85, Crook said she drove her bus home after completing the route. Shortly afterward, Thompson came to her home and took the bus, notifying Crook of her termination after eight and a half years on the job. “It's the most traumatic thing that has happened in my life,“ Crook said. Fayetteville lawyer Christopher Ramig, a former member of the school board, will represent her, Crook said.