A school bus driver was fired today after “crossing the line,” reportedly using a baseball bat to discipline a student on the bus Tuesday afternoon, Vicksburg Warren School District Superintendent Dr. James Price said.

Price declined to identify the driver, citing personnel privacy, but police reports named Tilda Wesley, no age or address available. A number listed for her in one phone book had been disconnected, and there was no answer at another.

She was a longtime employee of the school district who “used inappropriate physical contact with a student,” Price said.

The incident occurred after 3:15 p.m. Tuesday near the Waltersville Estates area while about 25 students were still on the bus riding home after school.

The male student, a 16-year-old Warren Central Junior High School pupil, went to River Region Medical Center Wednesday morning for treatment. Medical staff called police around 9.

The student was treated and released, a hospital spokesman said.

Dewayne Sims, district resource and law enforcement officer, deputized through the Warren County Sheriff’s office, completed an investigation Wednesday. No charges were expected to be filed, Price said.

Price had not directly spoken with the driver, but said reports to him led him to “believe it was a baseball bat” that she used. “Evidently the student had been aggressive to the driver,” he said, prompting her response.

“It is our practice not to have physical contact with students, particularly in instances where the student is not conforming to district rules or procedures,” he said. Bus drivers are equipped with two-way radios and cell phones that they are instructed to use in an emergency. “The safety of each student is our primary responsibility.”

Wesley was an “at-will” employee, subject to termination without notice, and has no contractual built-in appeals process as a teacher or other certified employee would. She could institute an appeal or lawsuit on her own.

She was suspended and did not drive Wednesday, Price said. After medical staff called police, an officer made an initial report but turned the official investigation over to Sims, said police Lt. Bobby Stewart.

The driver did make a report of a bus disturbance Tuesday afternoon, but did not report that she had hit the student with a bat. “She called transportation (Tuesday) and reported to her supervisor that a student had assaulted her,” Price said.

The transportation supervisor then alerted Sims, who went to the bus to investigate, but the student had already left. Sims talked to other students as part of his investigation.

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Contact Pamela Hitchins at phitchins@vicksburgpost.com