HOUSTON – A grand jury decided Tuesday not to indict a former Klein Independent School District bus driver whose bus nearly got hit by a train.
Driver Judy Bortle's bus narrowly missed being hit on Feb. 10 while crossing the railroad tracks and stopping at a nearby stop sign on Root Road. She was later fired.
She was later fired.
Bortle's attorney Rich Presutti said his client is shaken up, but the decision is the outcome they were looking for.
"We would hope that they would give her job back or at least some position in the school district," Presutti said. "This lady deserves to have her job back."
Klein Oak High School students were on the bus when the driver moved off the tracks at the last second just in time for the train to miss the back of the bus.
No one on the bus was hurt.
The district said Bortle claimed the reason she stopped at the stop sign after crossing the tracks was because the students were being too loud to continue driving safely.
However, under Texas law a school bus needs to be stopped at least 15 feet from railroad tracks.