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Former school bus driver loses CDL license for a year

10/21/2016

By Tom Marshall
Senior Advocate writer

A former Montgomery County School District bus driver will lose his CDL license for a year after pleading guilty recently to an alcohol-related charge.

Brian Fletcher, 59, of Jeffersonville, pleaded guilty Oct. 6 in Montgomery County District Court to the original charge of commercial driver license-under the influence of alcohol .04 percent-.08 percent. The charge is a misdemeanor.

Fletcher must also pay a $50 fine and court costs.
Fletcher was arrested as he arrived to pick up Camargo Elementary School students at the end of the school day April 20.
A preliminary breath test, according to an arrest citation found his blood alcohol level at 0.068 percent.

The Advocate’s initial report said that Fletcher was suspended from employment with the school system pending an investigation. He was later terminated.

Fletcher was taken to St. Joseph Mt. Sterling Hospital for a blood test. Results received May 12 showed a BAC of .061 percent, in violation of district policy, according to his letter of termination.

Fletcher violated a board policy that states that any school bus driver who tests at .02 percent or higher shall be relieved of these duties immediately and not be eligible for reemployment in a safety-sensitive position for five years, the letter reads.

Fletcher also violated the drug free/alcohol free schools policy that states that employees on duty or on board property shall not be under any degree of intoxication or under the influence of alcohol, the termination letter states.

“Employees shall not operate a district owned motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol,” it reads.

The district also says in its letter that it found Fletcher in violation of other policies by operating a school bus while smoking a cigarette.