The Pinellas school district says it's investigating why a school bus driver told 24 middle and high school-aged students to get off her bus....ten blocks from school.
It happened Tuesday morning when the school district says bus driver Angela Williams, 53, pulled over at 39th Avenue and 28th Street North--ten blocks shy of Lealman Innovation Academy--and told the students there were "safety reasons" and they needed to get off the bus.
A 911 call reveals that Williams reported a chemical smell. She told the operator she had been harassed by co-workers at the county bus compound and thought someone might have planted a substance. She claimed the smell was so strong it almost knocked her out.
The district says the students walked the rest of the way. They were all accounted for.
The school district's Lisa Wolfe says the incident is concerning because Williams did not follow proper procedures.
Wolfe says Williams won't be driving a bus until the disposition of this case. She does say Williams has been a driver with the district since 2005 and has a clean driving record.