The Hoover school bus driver arrested and charged with DUI Thursday was strongly criticized by the school system's leader.
Superintendent Dr. Kathy Murphy released the following statement:
"Among the many roles of a school district, the most important is the safety and well-being of children. The Hoover City School District accepts and embraces that the safety of our children is priority one, and we will accept nothing less from our employees. A serious breach of good judgment occurred on yesterday by one of our bus drivers. His failure to act responsibly could have resulted in serious injury and loss of life. Thank God no children were on the bus at the time of the crash. Our community can be confident that the irresponsible conduct of this employee will not be tolerated."
The driver, identified as Mark Pierce, was behind the wheel of a school bus that went off I-459 and crashed Wednesday near the Acton Road exit. Investigators say his blood alcohol content was .15, four times the legal limit for a bus driver. Pierce was arrested and charged with DUI. he is free on $1,000 bond. The Hoover school board scheduled a special called meeting for Friday, to take up a personnel matter. It is expected that the board will vote to terminate Pierce.