Driver runs off, Northampton students stranded

Walnutport woman charged with DUI, state police say; no students injured

A group of Northampton Area High School and Middle School students and their parents are grateful no one was hurt when the students were abandoned by their bus driver Friday afternoon.

Lori Ann Mankos, 44, of Walnutport was charged Friday night with driving under the influence, according to state police at Bethlehem.

Mankos pulled into the Sunoco gas station parking lot in the area of Routes 512 and 248 in Bath, according to witnesses. She then had the students exit through the rear doors and took off running, witnesses said.

Mankos is employed by the bus contractor, First Student, based in Cincinnati, Ohio. First Student dispatches more than 60 buses from the Northampton terminal to transport students attending the middle and high schools.

Northampton eighth-grader Stephanie Shiller said she was one of more than 30 students picked up by Bus No. 21 after

school.

Shiller said Mankos had been transporting her and other students for two weeks, since Feb. 18.

“She was fun when she first started driving us, but then she started getting weird,” Shiller said. “I don’t know, she just seemed a little too friendly.”

On Friday afternoon, students noticed Mankos wasn’t following her route, missing stops and driving on the wrong side of the road.

“We were freaking out,” Shiller said. “We didn’t know if she was drunk or what.”

Witnesses said Mankos got into a back-and-forth with students questioning her driving.

“She said, ‘You kids are making me quit my job after two weeks,’” Shiller said. “She drove over a bunch of potholes. I thought I was gonna fall outta my seat. I almost hit my head on another seat.”

Mankos then pulled into the Sunoco parking lot at about 3:10 p.m.

“She opened the back doors and told us all to get out,” Shiller said. “After I got off, I looked back and that’s when I saw her running away from the bus and just leaving us there.”

Some of the stranded students began phoning parents to come pick them up while other students began walking home.

“I got a text from Stephanie saying her school bus driver had abandoned the kids,” said Shiller’s father, Stephen Shiller. “After I went there and picked her up, I started making calls.

“The school wasn’t very helpful and transferred me to the bus company,” he said. “No one seemed to know what was going on, but the bus company said they would definitely look into this.

“If the kids are giving you a hard time, you don’t just abandon them like that,” he said. “You’re the adult. You call for another bus and wait there until that bus arrives.”

With the investigation being active, First Student spokesman Brock declined to comment on whether there have been any previous issues with Mankos.

“This is not what we expect of any of our drivers,” Brock said. “We don’t know the details of what happened, but we’re partnering with (state police at Bethlehem) on their investigation into this incident as well as conducting our own investigation.

“Our first priority is the safety of the students, which is why we sent a reliever bus to pick them up and take them to their homes once we found they were stranded. All students are safe and accounted for. If there’s appropriate action warranted against the driver as a result of this investigation, that action will be taken.”

Northampton School District Superintendent Joseph Kovalchik agreed.

“Nothing like this has ever happened before in my 28 years with the district,” Kovalchik said. “We’ve been contracting with this bus company for over 20 years. I don’t know anything about this driver since she’s employed by the contractor and not directly by our district.

“We’re extremely upset by this, but very thankful that none of the students were hurt,” he said. “We’re working with the local authorities. If we find there was any wrongdoing here, we will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law.”

Kovalchik said the students were all accounted for by 4 p.m.

When asked how comfortable he feels with putting his daughter back on a bus after this incident, Stephen Shiller said, “I’m fine as long as it’s with a different driver.”