On April 3, police arrested a Bend-La Pine Schools bus driver on suspicion of driving under the influence of intoxicants and reckless endangering, after completing a bus route.
According to Sheila Miller, Bend Police communications manager, BPD received a call from a BLPS transportation employee at around 6:45pm. The employee reported that the bus driver, 67-year-old Martha Ann Gerlicher, was under the influence and had been driving that very same afternoon.
Gerlicher has been employed by Bend-La Pine Schools since 2022, the district reported.
“The safety of students is always our top priority. The District has zero tolerance for behavior that endangers the wellbeing of children,” Director of Communications for BLPS Scott Maben stated in an email. “While no students were harmed as a result of the driver’s impairment, we deeply regret the distress this incident causes student riders, their families, and the public. We want to assure our community that the District remains committed to student safety and maintaining high standards for employee performance.”
According to Maben, district officials subsequently placed Gerlicher on leave “pending further action.”
The transportation employee had initially suspected Gerlicher was under the influence after they responded to her call to report the brakes on the bus she was operating were “not working.”
Gerlicher had arrived at High Desert Middle School to begin a route after completing one prior for Pine Ridge Elementary School. The transportation employee arrived at HDMS at approximately 3:15pm and found no “mechanical issues” with the bus or brakes.
The employee reportedly removed her from the bus, and she was escorted to a substance testing facility where she tested positive for high levels of alcohol. After testing, Gerlicher was taken home by an acquaintance and district supervisors contacted BPD to open an internal investigation.
Maben told the Source that a substitute driver was called on to complete the middle school and high school portion of the driver’s route.
Later that night, BPD detained Gerlicher at her home. At 11pm, seven hours after the test at the private facility, another test found Gerlicher had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.16%. The legal limit for drivers in Oregon is 0.08%.
No further details were available today, Maben told the Source.
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