A former Erie-area school bus driver says she was fired after stopping her route to rescue eight baby opossums from a busy roadway — a decision that has since sparked attention and debate online.
Rose Sheakley says she was driving along Cherry Street when she spotted what looked like a dead opossum in the road. As she passed, she noticed movement and realized one of the babies was still alive.
“I can’t keep going. That baby is gonna crawl off and get hit,” she recalled thinking.
Sheakley says she had five students on board when she turned the bus around to take a closer look. She found a dead mother opossum and eight surviving babies. She says she stopped traffic, wrapped the animals in a blanket and moved them to safety before continuing her route.
After finishing the run, Sheakley reported the incident to her supervisors.
“If I didn’t tell on myself, nobody would have known,” she said.
Days later, she received a termination letter. In a statement, First Student said its “number one priority is the safety of our students, employees, and the communities we serve,” and that the driver was terminated following a review of the incident. According to Sheakley, the issue cited was leaving students unattended on the bus.
“I couldn’t not get them, but I knew that I wasn’t supposed to,” she said.
The decision comes as school districts nationwide continue to struggle with bus driver shortages — something Sheakley says she witnessed regularly.
“We’re really short on bus drivers,” she said. “It affects the kids that get home an hour later.”
Despite the controversy and the wave of support she has received online, Sheakley says she isn’t criticizing her former employer. She says she accepts the consequences, even if she disagrees with them.
“Honestly, in the same situation, I probably would have done the same thing again,” she said.
The eight baby opossums survived and are now being cared for by Tamarack Wildlife Center. The organization did not comment on Sheakley’s termination but said people should prioritize their own safety — and the safety of others — when responding to wildlife emergencies. Injured or orphaned animals should be transferred to a licensed rehabilitator within 24 to 48 hours whenever possible.