PORTAGE, IN (CNN/RNN) - A school bus driver in Indiana is charged with felony neglect after accusations she allowed three students to take turns behind the wheel.
Parents of Boone Grove High School students told a school resource officer Thursday that 27-year-old bus driver Joandrea McAtee let kids take turns driving the bus on a rural road on the way home from school, WBBM reports.
The Porter County Sheriff's Department said the students involved were 11, 13 and 17 years old. Other children were allegedly on the bus at the time.
Video shared on social media appears to show McAtee instruct the students in how to brake and drive the bus.
Wheels on the bus go round and round, round and round, Boone grove bus driver let’s a middle schooler drive, middle schooler drive. pic.twitter.com/IdF4zRkhRG
— Casey? (@_caseyweber) September 21, 2018
McAtee was fired from her job and arrested Friday morning when she went to collect her final check, according to WBBM.
"The students and parents that immediately came forward with this information should be commended for doing exactly what we teach, which is see something, say something," said Sheriff David Reynolds in a statement.
Parent Rochelle McNamara told WBBM her daughter told her about the incident when she got home from school Thursday.
"I was just like, 'I don't understand where an adult who's driving a bus gets an idea that that is OK,'" McNamara said.
welcome to Boone grove where we let 6th graders drive a bus with children on it. pic.twitter.com/gQRzWUrDPg
— brianna lavin (@breelavin24) September 21, 2018
Parents have complained about McAtee before, according to WBBM. They said their kids have had complaints about her yelling in the past. One parent said her daughter has come home crying.
Both the sheriff's department and the Porter Township School Corporation are investigating the incident.
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