A school official, however, maintained that no change in policy or practice would have prevented the death.

“This is a tragic accident for which no paper could have avoided this accident,” said Sunil Mattu, the chief operating officer of Third Academy, a private school for children with special needs, which also operates its own fleet of buses.

The inquiry also heard from Miranda Findell, whose son rode the bus while attending Third Academy. She said she phoned the school about a week before the crash to talk about whether the personal problems, money woes and depression that Ms. Rogers shared with her could be affecting her ability to drive.

“She was feeling frazzled and didn’t know what to do,” Ms. Findell said.

She said she spoke with school officials, including the psychologist Ms. Rogers was seeing, and asked specifically about mental-health issues or anti-depressants. She was told Ms. Rogers had been on stress leave, but had returned to work.

Ashley Payne contends that the Barrow County school district violated state labor law because she was never told she was entitled to a hearing. Her attorney, Richard Storrs, says the 24-year-old former Apalachee High School teacher was “not made aware of her rights” and should be granted the hearing.
After teaching at the school for two years, Payne resigned in August after her principal questioned her about her Facebook page, which included photos of her holding wine and beer and an expletive.

(Payne told the Athens Banner Herald it was the “B” word that landed her in hot water with her principal. She posted it in the context of saying she was going to an Atlanta restaurant that featured a game called Crazy “B” Bingo. Here is a link to the bars that hold Crazy Bxxxx Bingo games.)

The more I learn about this case, I have to wonder who’s crazy here.
Unless the school system has other concerns about this teacher, I can’t understand how her Facebook page content – which would be tame for even my mother – would get her fired.

Barrow has a policy that states employees can be investigated and disciplined for postings on Web sites that contain provocative photographs, sexually explicit messages, use of alcohol, drugs or anything students are prohibited from doing. And the policy allows for termination for such transgressions.

The Louisiana Federation of Teachers says in a news release that the teachers were cheated out of thousands of dollars and worked in “virtual servitude.” The LFT filed complaints with the state Attorney General’s Office and the Louisiana Workforce Commission against United Placement Services of Los Angeles.

The complaints were filed on behalf of Fillipino teachers working in Caddo, East Baton Rouge and Jefferson parishes and in New Orleans. The company did not immediately respond to a telephoned request for comment.