AISD bus driver comes to aide of student

Thanks to Regina Pruitt’s motherly instincts and quick thinking, a female student from Eisenhower High School averted what could have been a dangerous situation for the student.

While Regina was driving her route on Aug. 31, she noticed a white truck driving slowly with its lights blinking. An instant later, a 15-year-old female Eisenhower High School student dashed from behind a tree and flagged her down.

Pruitt asked the young girl if the individual in the truck was bothering her and the student said he was. Pruitt told the girl to get on her bus and that she would get her home safely.

Pruitt’s bus aide, Cynthia O’Guinn, wrote down the truck’s license plate and called the Westside Transportation Department’s dispatch to alert them to the situation. O’Guinn provided dispatch with the license plate number and dispatch alerted the Precinct 1 Constables office, which later arrested the individual at his home.

Pruitt, who has 23 years of experience as a bus driver, said her instincts as a mother kicked in when she saw the distressed young girl.

“I try to look out for our children on and off the bus,” she said. “I just thank God I was in the right place at the right time.”

Amen!