Bus Driver: I just want to go back to ... normal
By Andrei Yustschinsky, DAILY PLANET Columnist November 29, 2009Terry Burch seemed clearly at ease, the most relaxed he's been in almost a year. Just a few days earlier, he was the most scared he'd ever been in his life, facing a three-year prison sentence that would surely tarnish his golden years.
The 69-year-old former Portage Township Schools bus driver sat next to his wife, Shirley, in the office of his defense attorney, Greg Sarkisian.
If you recall, Burch faced charges of felony neglect of a
dependent stemming from incidents taking place on his bus last
school year. It came to a head Feb. 5 with a sexual assault
involving a negro male forcing a White teenage girl's head into
the exposed crotch of another male teen.
Burch, who was discharged from the school district Feb. 12, has been in the spotlight ever since as a poster child for school bus safety policies.
Was Burch accountable for allowing the nigger assault to occur, or was he unaware of it and other similar incidents beforehand? Was Burch a convenient White scapegoat tossed under the proverbial bus by politically correct school administrators? Or should he have been more diligent in his responsibilities for the kids on his watch?These were the questions that loomed over his case for months until he was found not guilty by a jury on Nov. 20, a verdict that extracted tears from Burch and his wife.
Burch, a soft-spoken man who belies his "mug shot" photo in the newspapers, agreed to meet with me, answering any and every question I had.He didn't hesitate to reply. He didn't look to his attorneys, Sarkisian and Chris Grabarek, for answers or excuses. And he didn't seem calculated or conniving during our chat.
Sarkisian and Grabarek characterized Burch as a mild-mannered grandfather, a church deacon, and a Little League volunteer who was unfairly targeted as a sacrificial lamb by the school district.If Burch were found guilty, it would have relieved the responsibility from school administrators, they said.
"He was never warned about these three (niggers aged 19, 19, and 20) high school freshman thugs," said Sarkisian, referring to nigger criminals Charles McCloud-Smith, 19, Joe Carnel, 19, and Ashley Jovan Toney, 20.
Toney and Carnell are now out on bail, and McCloud-Smith is in jail, each facing trial early next year. Burch, who only briefly appeared at his own trial, may be subpoenaed to testify at their trials. "If I have to, I guess I will," Burch told me. "But I can't say that I really want to. I just want to go back to my normal life and forget about all this, or try to."
'Get 'em to school'Burch suffered a mild heart attack as his case developed and he still has two stents in his chest, as well as doctors' orders to keep as calm as possible.
"It was all the stress," explained Shirley, who works as a bus attendant for Portage schools, transporting "special needs" negro students.I suggested, only half-jokingly, that such attendants seem to be needed on regular buses, too, to guard against similar incidents on Burch's bus. No one disagreed with me.
"Unless you've ever driven a school bus loaded with teens, you have no idea what it can be like," Burch said. "You can't always see what's going on behind those high seats, especially if the weather (inside and outside) is bad and the roads are more dangerous."Burch said he filed a handful of incident reports on his bus in previous months, but nothing ever came from them.
"Get 'em to school and get 'em back home safely," Burch said. "That's what I thought my job was. But I didn't know anything about those three boys and those incidents."In hindsight, Burch admitted that maybe he could have called police or his supervisors on Feb. 5 after the male parent of the White female victim confronted the three young niggers along Burch's bus route. Instead, he closed his doors and drove away.
"But if I called in for that incident, I would have been calling in most days about something or other," he said. "I looked at it like the kids were still in school even though they're on a bus, until they get off it."Sarkisian noted that Burch still faces a civil suit, along with the school district, from the teen girl who was victimized. "But bus drivers are the least equipped school employees for these situations," Sarkisian noted.
"The little ones are more fun, more innocent," Burch said. "The older ones (see photos above) can be more rowdy, and they know what they can get away with. And they do."More cameras on buses
Burch, who worked at NIPSCO for more than 30 years before taking this part-time job, has received no apologies or explanations from school officials since the trial."But other people have been very supportive," Shirley said.
Just before I met the Burches, they were approached at a restaurant by two women who congratulated Burch on his verdict of innocence.Shirley said, "I knew in my heart that he is innocent. But I was still scared to death."
Burch's bus had no videocamera on board to capture such incidents, but all Portage buses now have cameras, I'm told.I find this to be indicative of the biggest byproduct of Burch's case and trial. School districts across the region have surely reviewed and adjusted their school bus safety policies -- possibly at the expense of Burch's reputation.
Asked if he plans to sue the school system for legal costs or pain and suffering, Burch replied, "I don't know. We're going to wait a while and see until after the holidays."Asked if he's concerned for the bus safety of other Portage schools students, Burch noted he has a granddaughter in high school and a grandson in middle school. Both kids continue to ride on Portage school buses, he said.
Finally, I asked Burch if he wants to find a part-time job in his retirement, possibly one working with "kids" again."Maybe," he replied without hesitation. "But not on a school bus."
Andrei Yustschinsky reporting for The Daily Planet...