AUBURN — An Auburn school bus mechanic resigned Wednesday after administrators learned he may have been involved in the improper inspection of district buses.
Maine State Police received a tip Monday that a large percentage of Auburn’s school buses were not properly inspected by a licensed technician as required by law, according to Maine Department of Public Safety Public Information Officer Shannon Moss.
The licensed technician, an employee of Lance’s Auto and Truck Repair in Monmouth, allegedly allowed someone who is not licensed by Maine State Police to perform the inspections, Moss said. Two current Auburn school bus drivers said the technician was relying on evaluations from Auburn bus mechanic Chuck Bowie of Augusta, who resigned Wednesday.
In a Facebook comment which has since been deleted, Auburn bus driver James Nelson said he was the one who contacted the state with the issue. Superintendent Cornelia Brown also referred to him by name as the whistleblower.
Moss said Maine State Police were informed that “the licensed technician just filled out and handed off inspection stickers to be placed on the windshield of the buses.”
Bowie is not licensed by the state to perform inspections. He was hired by the district in 2017 and was working as a mechanic and bus driver before his resignation. Brown said he provided no reason for his departure.
Brown interviewed transportation employees Wednesday, but Nelson was the only person who said they were aware of the inspection issue, she said.
In an interview Wednesday, Normal Miele, an Auburn bus driver for nearly three years before he quit in December, said “several times” he saw the licensed technician come by the bus garage on Minot Avenue and chat with Bowie, but do little else; he never saw the technician actively inspecting a bus, he added.
While he was suspicious, Miele didn’t know for sure that inspections were not being properly conducted until Tuesday, he said.
“These are our kids,” he said. “I think the world of them. That’s not being safe, that’s wrong.”
The licensed technician, who has not been identified by state officials, told them he was not sure which buses he checked himself, but admitted that it was very few, Moss wrote.
The information was provided to school officials with a recommendation that all buses be inspected by a licensed technician immediately to make certain their vehicles are safe to operate.
As a result of the investigation, Brown notified parents that the district’s buses would not be operating Wednesday and Thursday. School officials asked parents to arrange transportation for students to and from school.
As a result of their findings, Maine State Police will be taking administrative action against the licensed technician at the Monmouth business, Moss wrote. It was not clear what the action would be.
Two requests for comment from the business were not returned Wednesday.
Some parents used Facebook to offer up rides to students in need. Several people praised their respective school staff for smooth drop-offs Wednesday morning, too.
Wednesday afternoon, warnings from emergency dispatch of heavy traffic near Auburn schools, including on Court Street, were heard over the scanner.
Allegiance Trucks in Auburn is inspecting the buses and plans to finish late Thursday, barring any serious problems, said Jeremy St. Pierre, a licensed technician and Maine director of operations for Allegiance Trucks.
At 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, he was personally inspecting the seventh Auburn bus. He found only minor concerns in the first six buses, adding that all of the buses he had looked at were relatively new.
While he was unsure of the total number of buses to be inspected, there were 15 on the property at the time and two others which passed inspection were driven to the district garage.
Moss did not return a request Wednesday about whether other district buses or employers were affected by the technician’s improper inspections.
School buses in Maine are required to be inspected twice a year by a licensed technician and at least once a year by Maine State Police, Moss said.
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