ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1995, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995 TAG: 9512220044
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
NOTE: Above
The traffic convictions of a Roanoke school bus driver charged with dealing crack cocaine apparently were not reported to school officials because they are not among those the state is required to report.
Wayne A. Hicks was convicted in Roanoke General District Court in September of passing a stopped school bus, failing to stop for a police officer and escape, court records show.
A story Thursday said Hicks also had been convicted of reckless driving. That information came from one of his attorneys, Tony Anderson, but court records do not show that.
Hicks has appealed the convictions and is scheduled for a new trial in Roanoke Circuit Court next month.
State law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to notify school systems if bus drivers are convicted of reckless driving or drunken driving or if their licenses have been suspended or revoked.
The DMV is not required to notify school divisions if bus drivers are convicted of other traffic offenses, said Jeanne Chenault, the agency's public relations coordinator.
Hicks had no convictions this year that would have triggered a letter to school officials, Chenault said Thursday.
School divisions send the names of all their bus drivers to the DMV so it can notify them when a driver is convicted of one of the offenses as required by state law.
The traffic convictions were disclosed after a federal grand jury indictment charging Hicks with selling crack cocaine was unsealed this week.
School officials said they were not aware of the convictions, and Hicks continued to drive a bus until he was indicted. Now he has been suspended.
Hicks has been a bus driver since February. He was hired as a bus aide in September 1994. In that job, he helped special education children get on and off the bus and performed other duties, but he did not drive a bus.
When Hicks was hired, school officials ran a criminal background check on him, as they do on all those being considered for employment.
Hicks had been convicted of speeding, having improper tags and no decal in Roanoke in the two years before he was hired by the schools, according to court records. But those offenses did not show up on his background report because it covered only criminal convictions.
Richard Kelley, assistant superintendent for operations for city schools, said the traffic convictions did not preclude Hicks from being hired. School officials knew about the speeding conviction, Kelley said.
Like other prospective bus drivers, Hicks took a three-month training course.
Chauncey Logan, the schools' transportation director, found Hicks' driving skills "to be more than acceptable," Kelley said.
Hicks served as a substitute bus driver after he finished his training and became a full-time driver when an opening developed in February.
School Board Chairman Nelson Harris said Thursday the Hicks case is "unfortunate and, frankly, embarrassing" for the school system, but he believes school administrators have acted responsibly.
"I think they have done, and are doing, what they can to handle it properly," he said.
Harris said he does not know if it is practical for the school division to try to do checks for criminal convictions of school employees after they are hired. The school system has more than 1,600 employees and an extensive effort might be needed to check on all of them, he said.
Superintendent Wayne Harris said the schools have not been making checks for criminal convictions after employees are hired because most abide by the law.
School officials did not know Hicks was under investigation for drug violations. Authorities have said there was no indication that Hicks was dealing drugs on the job.
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