There was an August 23rd, 2023 bus incident. There were allegations that the bus hit a parked car. Herald & Review reported this was a "false alarm", and that a car was not hit.

I submitted a FOIA request to Decatur Public Schools District 61 Board Secretary Melissa Bradford to investigate.

I requested video footage, communications, reports on the incident, and bus driver information.

Superintendent Dr. Rochelle Clark's August 23rd email states "At this time, we are still waiting on the police, Alltown and the District to review the bus video and confirm what actually took place." The FOIA Response returned no video and no reports, aside from that email.

Additionally, a Facebook Commenter states "on May 19 the same driver was ticketed for much more than “hitting a curb”". There was a citation for a May 19th, 2023 incident, but it was later dismissed in court.

Additionally, I obtained the police report from Diane Beggs with the Decatur Police Department, through a separate FOIA Request.

The report states that Officer D. R. Oakley had their body cam active throughout the incident, and that "All Town bus driver [redacted] advised Officer Macomb that the kids told him he hit three parked cars", and that Officer Macomb was unable to find any vehicles with damage, nor able to find any new damage to bus #19740.

The report states that All Town would review their camera footage and "call if they were able to see anything".

I believe Alltown and DPS61 should release any video footage and reports, if available. If such records exist, I should be able to obtain them through a Request For Review.

However, I will not investigate this story further, because I don't have the time to.

FOIA Details & Documents

Purpose: To investigate details and reporting surrounding an August 23rd, 2023 Decatur Bus Incident.
Short-Name: 2023-08-23-bus (for our fact-sheet)
To: Decatur Public Schools District 61, Melissa Bradford mbradford@dps61.org

Timeline

• Sent: August 29, 2023, 12:16pm
• Extension: September 6, 2023, 9:00am
• Response: September 13, 2023, 4:30pm

Notes

• Dr. Clark writes in an email "At this time, we are still waiting on the police, Alltown and the District to review the bus video and confirm what actually took place." - The FOIA Response provided no video footage and no reports on the incident.
• The document 'Email Admin at Scene on 08.23.23.' is not provided here, because the 'Emails from administration' includes that 'Admin at Scene' email.
• I also submitted a FOIA Request to the Decatur Police Department. The document is below, but I have not prepared a full report on that request.

Documents

• FOIA Request Email - Email Thread of request/response
• FOIA Response Letter - detailed response letter, addressing each requested item
• Bus Drivers - List of which bus drivers work which routes
• Emails from administration - Emails from Melissa Bradford and Rochelle Clark describing the incident, sent to Board Members and other admins.
• May 19th Citation - Wilbur Felton - A May 19, 2023 citation of Wilbur Felton, with 'Nature of Offense' as 'FAILURE TO YIELD-STOP INTERSECTION'. According to Judici, the 'Disposition' of the charge on June 9, 2023 was '211 - Dismiss/Court'
• May 19th Bus Accident Report - A 'Uniform School Bus Accident Report' to be sent to the Regional Office of Education. This form states (via checkboxes) that there was 'No improper action' by the bus driver, and that the 'Other Vehicle Driver Action' was 'Speed', and that another 'contributing circumstance' was 'View obstructed by object'.
• Police Report - This police report was received from the Decatur Police Department through a separate FOIA Request. The report states that Officer D. R. Oakley had their body cam active throughout the incident, and that "All Town bus driver [redacted] advised Officer Macomb that the kids told him he hit three parked cars", and that Officer Macomb was unable to find any vehicles with damage, nor able to find any new damage to bus #19740. The report states that All Town would review their camera footage and "call if they were able to see anything".
• Fact Sheet - Our internal fact sheet, proving claims within this (and another) article, and tracking relevant documents.

Request

This request is regarding an August 23 bus incident reported by Herald & Review at https://herald-review.com/news/local/education/decatur-bus-incident-was-false-alarm/article_f2a94dbe-42b1-11ee-a2ad-2fd112c7d188.html, in which the article states "Decatur police, an ambulance and school district personnel were summoned to the scene at North Edward and West Sawyer streets at approximately 4 p.m"

I request the following:

1. Any and all video footage from the incident
2. Any and all photos of the incident
3. Any and all reports on the incident created by DPS staff or DPS partners/contractors
4. Any and all reports on the incident received from Police
5. Any and all reports on the incident received from Alltown bus service or their partners
6. Name, email, & phone number of the driver involved
7. A record of complaints/incidents involving said bus driver. I have a tip that there was a May 19th ticket involving this driver.
8. A list of district personnel who were "summoned to the scene"
9. All texts and emails of those individuals returned by #8, from 2:00pm August 23 to 7:00pm August 23

Please note that voluminous request & recurrent requestor do not apply, because this is for a news organization for public dissemination.

Response

Substantive portions only.

1. Any and all video footage from the incident
   a. Response: There is no document responsive to this request.
2. Any and all photos of the incident
   a. Response: There is no document responsive to this request.
3. Any and all reports on the incident created by DPS staff or DPS partners/contractors
   a. Response: There is no document responsive to this request.
4. Any and all reports on the incident received from Police
   a. Response: There is no document responsive to this request.
5. Any and all reports on the incident received from Alltown bus service or their partners
   a. Response: There is no document responsive to this request.
6. Name, email, & phone number of the driver involved
   a. Response: See the attached list titled, “Alltown - Seniority List.” There is no other document responsive to this request.
7. A record of complaints/incidents involving said bus driver. I have a tip that there was a May 19th ticket involving this driver.
   a. Response: See attached documents titled, “Accident IL Citation Wilbur Felton Bus 16 05.19.23-Redacted and Accident Paperwork Wilbur Felton Alltown 05.19.23-Redacted. There are no other documents responsive to this request.
8. A list of district personnel who were "summoned to the scene”
   a. Response: See attached document titled, “Email Admin at Scene on 08.23.23.”
9. All texts and emails of those individuals returned by #8, from 2:00pm August 23 to 7:00pm August 23
   a. Response: See attached document titled, “Emails re Bus on 08.23.23.