Harford County, Maryland – An experienced school bus driver was recently terminated from her position after she allowed a student on her route to exit the bus to rescue an injured kitten. According to sources, Cynthia Morgan, who drives a bus for students at the North Harford Elementary School, was fired because of safety concerns stemming from the incident.
A video recording shows low traffic on the rural road where the 10-year-old child, Alex, went to secure the kitten. As reported by the Baltimore Sun, the student held the kitten on his lap until the bus arrived at the school.
Morgan is known as a caring, attentive bus driver, who has gifted students school supplies, Christmas presents, birthday cards and more. Parents who know Morgan think that she should have been given a short suspension, not a permanent termination.
A parent tells CBS, “We just feel the way that it was handled was not appropriate. We feel that termination was a little excessive, an overreaction by the Department of Transportation through HCPS. I think it could have been handled in a lot of other ways.”
A Change.org petition asking for Morgan to be reinstated to her position has garnered over 11,400 signatures.
Where do you stand? Was this an act of compassion for an injured kitten or was it a reckless move by a bus driver who should have known better. Feel free to weigh in below in the comment section.
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51 Comments
The bus driver should have been commended, not fired! By allowing the child to rescue a vulnerable creation of God would teach the children about empathy and compassion. In today’s world where animal abuse abounds, and children are being taught that the world revolves around them, this bus driver and the child were teachingt a valluable lesson, and firing the driver sends the opposite message. Hire her back, give her a raise, and give the child who saved the kitten an award!
I agree with all the comments. The lesson of compassion was the most important lesson those children learned when the bus stopped for an injured animal. She should have been commended instead of fired. Whoever is responsible for the driver losing her job should be fired instead and this driver should be reinstate with a raise and a bonus for giving her students one of the best lessons possible
Several petitions to reinstate the driver are getting TONS of signatures!!! PETA has written to the school board and there’s even a GoFundMe set up for the driver!
It’s the damn SCHOOL BOARD that should be fired. And boy, do they look like a bunch of smacked asses now.
God Bless the Driver and Child…
Ms. Morgan did the RIGHT thing, she may have slightly bent the rules in doing so but haven’t we all at times in life to do the RIGHT thing? Think of the message that was sent to all of the children on the bus that day; that doing the right thing is bad. Punishing Ms. Morgan by terminating her is excessive and in my opinion, unwarranted. There are far worse things others get away with without even a slap on the wrist. As a society, we need to stop punishing good samaritans while allowing those whose actions harm others to not be punished.
Ms. Morgan took actions to make sure it was safe for all of the students, including the child who stepped off the bus to rescue the kitten. She did everything RIGHT in a situation, which also served as a learning moment to the children on the bus, by demonstrating what kindness, empathy & compassion are.
We need more people like Ms. Morgan, and less like those who punished her for doing the RIGHT thing.
Bus driver deserves a raise not firing!
The bus driver first made sure that it was safe for the child to go rescue the kitten. I think that teaching compassion to animals in this world when all I hear about now are abuse cases was an important lesson for the children. This bus driver should not have been fired.
I totally agree with you!!
The bus driver taught an important lesson in compassion. I think the school overreacted in the firing. A reprimand would be in order if the school policy was violated. I am sure the administration was worried about lawsuits if the child was injured in anyway. Since that did not happen thankfully, there is no reason to fire. Life has risks, and it seems a compassionate life has the most risk of all.
Commendable behavior of school bus driver! Bravo! School needs to come correct . How insensitive are they & what does this teach the children. No one was in imminent danger & a helpless kitten was rescued. Absolutely ludicrous assessment on schools part. Shameful!
Commendable behavior of school bus driver! Bravo! School needs to come correct . How insensitive are they & what does this teach the children. No one was in imminent danger & a helpless kitten was rescued. Absolutely ludicrous assessment on schools part. Shameful!
Commendable behavior of school bus driver! Bravo! School needs to come correct . How insensitive are they & what does this teach the children. No one was in imminent danger & a helpless kitten was rescued. Absolutely ludicrous assessment on schools part. Shameful!
Commendable behavior of school bus driver! Bravo! School needs to come correct . How insensitive are they & what does this teach the children. No one was in imminent danger & a helpless kitten was rescued. Absolutely ludicrous assessment on schools part. Shameful!
Commendable behavior of school bus driver! Bravo! School needs to come correct . How insensitive are they & what does this teach the children. No one was in imminent danger & a helpless kitten was rescued. Absolutely ludicrous assessment on schools part. Shameful!
This driver should be commended on teaching their kids to value a life. She is the type of person the kids need to look up to! If she should have done something differently, tell her, but she should not loose her job or any salary over this.
Saving an injured animal and teaching compassion to children should not be disciplinary ever!!!!! Not only should she be reinstated she should receive back pay and a formal apology!
The bus driver actually taught the students empathy for animals by letting the student rescue the Kitty. Unfortunately, animal abusers are getting younger and younger.
This bus driver did the right thing. What did they want her to do, drive over the kitten? Hope she finds a better paying job . Ever who made the decision to fire her is an idiot.
This bus driver did the right thing. What did they want her to do, drive over the kitten? Hope she finds a better paying job . Ever who made the decision to fire her is an idiot.
This bus driver did the right thing. What did they want her to do, drive over the kitten? Hope she finds a better paying job . Ever who made the decision to fire her is an idiot.
This bus driver did the right thing. What did they want her to do, drive over the kitten? Hope she finds a better paying job . Ever who made the decision to fire her is an idiot.