Needham School Bus Driver Charged with Buying Drugs in Between Stops

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A driver for the Needham public school system on Tuesday was charged with buying drugs in between stops.

Superintendent Dan Gutekanst said the male driver was fired. He did not identify him.

Gutekanst said the man drove a van for YCN Transportation, one of the school system’s contractors. No students were on the van at the time of the incident.

Here’s a letter the superintendent sent out Thursday:

Earlier today, we were notified by YCN Transportation, Inc. that one of their van drivers responsible for transporting Needham students to/from their private special education school was arrested for buying drugs in between his morning and afternoon runs this past Tuesday, May 12th.

No students were on the van at the time of the incident nor were any students injured or otherwise involved.

The families of the students who were transported by this driver have been notified by the Needham Public Schools of the situation with the driver. YCN has terminated the driver and a substitute driver has been put in place.

Rest assured that we take all matters related to student safety very seriously in the Needham Public Schools. As per our policy, this driver was subject to the appropriate Criminal Offender Record Investigation (CORI), Sexual Offense Record Investigation (SORI), and National Fingerprinting Process and was found to have no criminal activity in his past upon hire. Furthermore, YCN and the Needham Public Schools have strict driving and other safety protocols in place, including random drug testing of school van and bus drivers.

We will continue to work with YCN Transportation as well as all of our special education transportation vendors to be certain student safety remains the top priority.

Should you have any questions or would like to speak with me directly, please contact me at dan_gutekanst@needham.k12.ma.us or 781-455-0400 x202.

Sincerely,

Dan Gutekanst