Illinois school bus driver pushes through dangerous floodwater with children on board

MONMOUTH, Illinois - Parents and families in the Monmouth-Roseville School District are upset after a bus driver was caught on camera driving through dangerous floodwater with children onboard.

Trista Ross took the video Wednesday morning outside her home on 11th Avenue on the outskirts of Monmouth. It shows the bus pushing through the flooded intersection.

"I was like, 'Oh my god, it's going! It's going through!" Ross told WQAD.

She was taking a quick video of the flooding outside her house when she saw the bus coming down 11th street.

"All the other cars and semis were turning around," she says. "The school bus driver was going through it. I just couldn't believe it."

Ross says when the bus went through, the water was touching the bottom of the stop signs. She adds several people have tried to get through the intersection and one car was even stalled there Wednesday afternoon.

Ross' video was eventually sent to the school district when Superintendent Ed Fletcher saw it Wednesday morning.

"I was pretty upset when I saw that video, and I found out it was our bus and there were kids on it," he says.

Fletcher says none of the students were hurt and water didn't get inside the bus. He says he can't discuss any type of action or discipline the bus driver could face because it's a personnel issue.

"To be honest with you, the bus driver thought, 'Well, I can get through this.' And I never would've come to that conclusion nor would I think many other drivers (would)," Fletcher said.

He does say the situation is being dealt with per school policy.

"Oh, stupid," Ross says. "Stupid. I don't even care if you did or didn't have kids. It's stupid to go through it at all. First of all, it's not your bus. And second, it's just a dumb decision."