School system addresses Coastal Middle bus incident; Parent speaks out about misconduct and safety

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - The Savannah-Chatham County Public School System has issued a statement following an incident that occurred on August 27, 2025, involving a school bus serving students from Coastal Middle School.

A video recording of the incident, which has circulated among parents and social media, captured the driver telling a student, “I will mess you up,” and accusing the child of threatening to hit her.

The driver then asks the student for his name, the back-and-forth exchange continues and she finally says she’s taking the kids back to school.

The video also shows the student making a phone call and ends with the bus stopped and surrounded by several Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools police vehicles.

Watch the video here:

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According to the district, several students engaged in “ongoing misconduct” while riding their assigned bus.

Despite the driver’s attempts to manage the situation, disruptive behavior continued throughout the route.

At one point, a parent who became aware of the events decided to follow the bus and contacted authorities.

The driver also requested police assistance. Students eventually exited the bus at an unintended stop.

While school officials stated that video footage showed no evidence of unsafe driving, they acknowledged that the driver’s response “did not fully meet our professional standards.”

As a result, the district confirmed that the driver will no longer be assigned to Coastal Middle School routes and that “appropriate disciplinary actions have been taken.”

The district emphasized that the safety of students remains its top priority and said it is committed to upholding professional expectations for all staff.

See the full statement here:

On August 27, 2025, several students engaged in ongoing misconduct while riding their assigned bus serving Coastal Middle School. Despite the driver’s efforts to manage the situation, the disruptive student behavior continued throughout the route.  A parent who became aware of the disruptive circumstances decided to follow the bus and contacted authorities, and the driver subsequently requested police assistance as well.  Students exited the bus at an unintended stop.

While video footage does not show any evidence of unsafe driving, the driver’s response to the challenging circumstances did not fully meet our professional standards. As a result, the driver will no longer be assigned to Coastal Middle School routes and appropriate disciplinary actions have been taken. 

Savannah-Chatham County Public School System

Parent speaks out about misconduct and safety

“There’s definitely another way that that bus driver could’ve handled the situation,” said Michael Locklear, a parent who’s child rides that bus. “She could’ve pulled over and called for board of education PD, or her supervisor or local PD, but for her to tell kids ‘I’m going to mess you up’, definitely not the right way to handle a situation.”

Michael Locklear says his daughter is usually on this route.

While she wasn’t on Wednesday, he says she didn’t want to return.

“We as parents put or trust in other people to get our kids to and from school safely and if we can’t trust them, then I as a parent don’t feel safe,” said Locklear.

WTOC reached out to Savannah Chatham County schools who say, “several students engaged in ongoing misconduct while riding their assigned bus serving Coastal Middle School.

Despite the driver’s efforts to manage the situation, the disruptive student behavior continued throughout the route.”

They also say, “While video footage does not show any evidence of unsafe driving, the driver’s response to the challenging circumstances did not fully meet our professional standards. As a result, the driver will no longer be assigned to Coastal Middle School routes and appropriate disciplinary actions have been taken.”

It’s not clear what those actions are.

One Coastal Middle School parent shared this message with WTOC from the school system.

It says, “...any students involved in the disruption on the bus will be disciplined in accordance with guidelines in our Student Code of Conduct.”

Locklear says he hopes this is a lesson for both bus drivers and students.

“It’s imperative that kids don’t do anything like this on the bus because say they were throwing stuff on the bus, that could cause the bus driver to drive in a reckless manner if the bus driver is being hit with stuff from behind,” said Locklear.

Locklear says his daughter let him know that they did have a new driver and that could be their permanent driver moving forward.