A bus driver for the Mount Prospect District was arrested for DUI last week, shocking the pleasant suburb that was recently ranked as the best place to raise children by BusinessWeek.

54-year-old Betty Burden dropped of 50 children, all unharmed, last Tuesday before a co-worker reported her for smelling of alcohol. A supervisor with the district followed up on the report, tracking down the driver and calling police. The other driver admitted some hesitation in reporting Burden, only telling a supervisor about an hour after initially noting Burden smelled of alcohol.

The supervisor, who did not want to overstep legal boundaries to his job, boarded the bus to check on Burden. He could not verify whether the driver had been drinking, according to a police report. He did follow the bus, however, and report the incident to police, who had more authority to investigate the report. 

Police did arrive within 15 minutes. They determined Burden was under the influence, and reports indicate she had a BAC well over the legal limit - .226%. She was charged with felony aggravated DUI - the felony charge resulted from the fact she was carrying several passengers under the age of 18 in a commercial vehicle at the time of the arrest. Burden admitted she had been drinking screwdrivers before driving the bus. 

Burden was immediately suspended from the district. The school board has commented they will seek Burden's permanent termination during an upcoming meeting. The actions of the transportation supervisor will also be investigated. At this point, however, it appears he followed procedure in his role since he could not specifically determine if Burden was under the influence when he boarded the bus. Further, he may have been protecting the children by allowing them to exit the bus prior to any formal accusation or arrest. 

The school district did confirm that Burden had submitted random drug tests in the past and passed each time. They will look into the incident in terms of the driver's misconduct as well as the supervisor's authority to stop a drunk driver.