Micheline Nicolas, one of the school bus drivers involved in the two bus collision at the intersection of Brown Bridge Road and Magnet Road last week has been terminated.

The two buses were transporting students to Veterans Memorial Middle School on Sept. 15 when they collided. Three students were taken to Newton Medical Center with minor injuries.

Superintendent Dr. Gary Mathews recommended Nicolas be terminated at Tuesday night's Board of Education meeting. The vote was approved unanimously by the school board.

Nicolas had been a driver with the school system for several years and had no prior accidents on her record.

In response to public participation at the BOE meeting, where a grandparent of a Newton County elementary school student expressed displeasure and concern over the notification of drop off schedules for buses, Dr. Dennis Carpenter, deputy Superintendent for Newton County Schools, stated that he is continuing to work with the transportation department to integrate the current School Messenger system with what is being used by that department to notify parents of bus changes in a more timely fashion.

Superintendent Matthews spoke briefly of updating the school system's policies regarding foreign exchange students. Matthews passed out copies of the policy used by Rockdale County Schools and the board discussed the importance of having a written agreement in place prior to a student's arrival. Board Member Jeff Meadors also suggested that the students' discipline records be sent prior to arrival. Changes to the current policy's wording will be recommended at a later date.