Shocking video shows Riverside Christian College bus driver driving while checking paperwork

A bus driver for a private school has been filmed steering with his elbows and reading paperwork while behind the wheel of a school bus with children in his care. The school is yet to take action despite a whistleblower complaint.

A bus driver for a Maryborough private school has been filmed steering with his elbows and reading paperwork while behind the wheel of a school bus with up to 30 children in his care.

The footage shot by a student behind and to the left of the driver was sent to The Chronicle by an anonymous whistleblower who said seeing the footage taken on February 13 “made me feel sick”.

The whistleblower said a complaint put forward by the student who filmed the incident was ignored by Riverside Christian College staff.

A school spokesperson said the videos had been reviewed and the complaint investigated.

A Queensland Police spokesperson said no formal complaint had yet been made against either Riverside or the driver and no charges had been laid.

The student reportedly first attempted to show his year-level co-ordinator the footage but said the staff member allegedly told him: “I do not want to see it”.

The bus driver was filmed apparently reading paperwork while driving.

Attempting to take it further the student was advised to “fill out” an incident report when he notified the school’s reception of the bus driver’s actions.

With still no action taken after that report, the student contacted the whistleblower and said nobody would listen to him.

The whistleblower then contacted the school and was told: “I do not think you and the student like this man”.

The whistleblower and the student claim they tried to directly contact the principal of Riverside Christian College, Michelle Gouge, but had not heard back.

The whistleblower said Riverside “just likes to do things in-house”.

A Maryborough private school bus driver has been filmed appearing to check his mobile phone while driving.

“I hoped they would deal with it like that,” he said.

But when the school failed to take action, the whistleblower reached out to the media.

More than 1600 students are enrolled at Riverside, with many coming from outside of Maryborough to attend school.

The school’s bus drivers drive as far south as Tin Can Bay and as far east as Biggenden while operating multiple buses to and from Hervey Bay.

According to the school’s website, parents pay $1165 per year for one child to use the bus full-time.

This is in addition to school fees which can cost up to $5015 for a single senior student.

The bus driver was filmed appearing to steer with his elbows, looking at his phone and looking at paperwork.

“As many as 30 to 40 children could have been on (that) bus,” the whistleblower said.

A Riverside College spokesperson said:

“We want to assure you that we take allegations of irresponsible behaviour by our drivers very seriously. Our bus fleet is managed by a dedicated Bus Operations Manager who has conducted a thorough investigation into the matter, reviewing any available footage and examining the incident in question.

“We take pride in our outstanding track record, even with the extensive operations of our large fleet of buses covering hundreds of kilometres each day.

“We have not received any complaints from parents and the police have not made contact with the college regarding this incident in question.”

The driver alleged to be in the video was approached for comment but said he did not wish to be interviewed and that all inquiries should go through the school.

The school was sent the video of the bus driver’s actions but did not provide further comment.

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