‘Our kids are devastated’: Richmond Schools terminates 5 veteran bus drivers for ‘obstructing operations’

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Five now-former Richmond Public Schools (RPS) bus drivers said they were terminated on April 25 after they advocated for overtime pay outside of City Hall on April 8.

"We've been depressed, we can't eat, we can't sleep," the five drivers told 8News.

An RPS email from Superintendent Jason Kamras obtained by 8News reads, in part:

"On April 8, several bus drivers suddenly ‘called out,’ indicating they would not be performing after-school activity runs. This led RPS to cancel most after-school activities, leaving thousands of students without programming.” 

The drivers, who call themselves the "RPS 5," said that, on that day, they joined roughly 25 other RPS employees outside of City Hall to advocate for their overtime pay before attending a school board meeting inside the building.

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The RPS 5 told 8News that they do not understand why this particular event prompted their terminations, as they said they've advocated like this in the past.

"I went in the back and just held up a sign," said Cynthia Cole, who drove RPS buses for 29 years. "It wasn't nothing about no strike, or anything like that. No one said anything about no strike. We do this every time we go down to the school board. I mean, it's nothing different."

Email written by RPS superintendent Jason Kamras about the advocacy of the "RPS 5" bus drivers. (Email provided to 8News by Richmond Public Schools.)

Kamras states in the email that, while their employees are encouraged to make their voices heard, they should not do so "at the expense of students and families."

The RPS 5 said no students were left behind that day.

"There wasn't any kids that were stranded out here because they were all taken home and we [bus drivers] were taking them home," said Sonny Randolph, who drove RPS buses for 11 years. "If they [RPS] said we strike[d], we had the fliers out two weeks prior to this event, so they already knew our intention of coming to City Hall to fight for our two hours [overtime pay]."

Kamras goes on to say that “an investigation by the RPS Department of Employee and Labor Relations found that several employees called out that afternoon to protest RPS’ position in negotiations in the ongoing negotiations over their collective bargaining agreement.”

The RPS 5 questions why they were the only ones terminated, despite there being other bus drivers in attendance.

They said four of them are North compound bus drivers and one of them drives RPS students in the South compound. They added that not all of them knew each other before they were all called to Albert V Norrell Elementary School to be terminated in person.

"You terminated all our benefits, and then you had taken our rights to work anywhere else in the city or surrounding counties for the next 12 months," said Kimya Williams, who drove for RPS for 25 years.

Their termination letter states they were let go for violating Virginia Code section § 40.1-55, "Employee striking terminates, and becomes temporarily ineligible for, public employment."

"I have my students' parents calling me every now and then asking me, 'Sonny, where are you?'" Randolph said. "Our kids are devastated on the bus, parents are worried about us."

Cole said parents from her bus routes are calling her, too.

"I love my kids, especially my Mary Munford [kids] -- they're my elementary kids," Cole said. "I know they miss me. I just don't understand it."

8News reached out to RPS for a statement on these terminations. An RPS spokesperson confirmed that the RPS 5 were terminated, but said they cannot comment on personnel matters.

"We want to be clear that Richmond Public Schools is in full support of both workers' rights and First Amendment rights broadly," Kamras wrote in the obtained email.

If you would like to support the RPS 5 during this time, you can sign their reinstatement petition here, or donate to them here.