School bus driver on trial in fatal crash

Testimony will continue today in the trial of a former Horry County school bus driver charged with a misdemeanor traffic offense in connection with the 2009 death of a Myrtle Beach-area high school student.

Michael Joseph Burns, 78, denied being responsible for the Nov. 2, 2009, vehicle crash that killed 17-year-old Marc Chaplin. The teen's motorcycle and the school bus Burns was driving collided.

"There was a blur in front of me and that's when the accident occurred," Burns said.

He is charged with failure to yield the right-of-way. His trial began Tuesday in front of Magistrate Margie Livingston.

Chaplin was going west on International Drive while Burns was going east. Burns attempted to turn left onto S.C. 31 when the crash occurred. Horry County Assistant Solicitor Paul Taylor on Tuesday told the magistrate court jury of five men and two women that Burns did not have a green turn arrow at the time of the crash and pulled into oncoming traffic.

"He turned when he shouldn't have. He was in a hurry and negligently turned," Taylor said in his opening statements.

"In this case you will see how serious the consequences are if we don't abide by those [traffic] laws."

Chaplin, a senior at the Academy of Arts, Sciences & Technology, died after his 2008 Kawasaki motorcycle and the 2004 school bus collided.

On Feb. 5, troopers with the S.C. Highway Patrol cited Burns with failure to yield the right-of-way after an investigation.

"With the traffic patterns we saw, there was no way Mr. Burns could have had the dedicated green traffic signal," Highway Patrol Cpl. J.R. Shull testified.

"He believed he had the right to make the turn."

Chaplin, whose base school was Myrtle Beach High, was on his way to the academy on International Drive.

Several defense witnesses testified Burns had a green turn arrow and that Chaplin sped up when the traffic light in his lane turned yellow.

"I saw him speed up a lot while I was slowed down. He went into the intersection and hit the front of the bus," said Roy Cohen, a 17-year-old who attended the academy with Chaplin. "I knew he was going to try and beat the light. I knew he was going to hit the bus."

During his testimony, Cohen said Chaplin had a reputation around school as being a "reckless driver" on his motorcycle.

Prosecutors plan to call witnesses to rebut that testimony today, while Burns' attorney, Gene Vaught, said he had witnesses to confirm it.

No students were on the bus at the time of the crash, and Burns was returning to North Myrtle Beach High School after dropping students off at the academy, authorities said.

Alvin Weinerman, who was driving another school bus behind Burns that morning, testified he saw parts of the bus flying in the air after he heard a loud noise.

"Was there a green turn arrow?" Vaught asked Weinerman.

"Yes, there was," Weinerman said.

"Is there any question in your mind about it?" Vaught asked.

"No," Weinerman said.

Burns has driven for the school district for five years and drove for a North Carolina school district for 13 years before that, he testified.

He was found guilty of the same failure to yield charge in December 2007, according to Horry County records, although details on the incident weren't available Tuesday.

If Burns is convicted, points could be assessed against him on his driving record and he could face a fine.

Chaplin's parents, who attended the trial but did not address the court, have sued the school district and state department of education for neglect, according to a lawsuit filed Nov. 2 in Conway.

Rodney and Cathleen Chaplin are seeking $600,000 for actual damages and legal fees in the suit.

The Chaplins seek compensation for the "extreme emotional anguish, lose of care, comfort and companionship" by their son's death. They also seek to recover compensation for doctor fees, hospital bills and funeral expenses.

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The debate School Superintendent hopes options

State parents who send their children to private school tax credit is one of the biggest issues that distinguishes the candidates for State Superintendent of education.

The Republican and democratic candidate Frank Holleman Mick Zais debated Tuesday at a meeting of the Rotary Club of Charleston .c ' was the last debate of the candidates before the polling day.

Said Zais does not support purchase school .but he supports a tax credit for parents with low incomes who want to send their children to private schools.

It also supported alternative public schools, said, like the Charter and magnet schools online.

"Every child is special and every child is different," said Zais.Mais schools now offer the same programs for each child. "If a private school is the only option, or the best option for a child, he said, parents should be able to send their children there."

Zais also supports tax credits to those who have made donations to the school for children in low-income tuition.

Holleman said: "teaching private tax credits are good wearing different."

These programs have poor children, whose parents cannot afford to pay the cost of tuition at the outset and receive compensation later by a tax credit, he said.

Holleman, his opponent has already said that he would do the families with low income a priority for tax credits, but would not necessarily limit families with low incomes.

Tax credits would drain desperately need money in public schools, he said.

The candidates also discussed their positions on linking pay teachers and salary increases for so students perform.

Said Holleman linking pay to student performance is one of the hottest issues education right now. "But no one has yet developed a system that works.?

"We do not want to put in place a system that would discourage our best child education special ed teachers, poor children or performing children", he said.

Zais said: "we need a system that rewards our best teachers and puts our poorest teachers notice."

He said that student teachers who rank in the top 20 percent based on their teaching skills complement 18 months of learning in an an.Mais teachers ranked bottom 20 percent of students completely only six months of learning within a year.

The State must an evaluation system good performance of the teacher, he said.

But he cannot wait while trying to design a system perfect, because no system is perfect.

"We don't pay our best teachers close enough, and we pay our poorest teachers way too," said Zais.

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Budget tops Georgetown school concerns

GEORGETOWN - Topics such as budget and standardized tests listed on list Monday evening when County Georgetown School Board candidates were interviewed about what they would do for the school district.

Candidate forum Georgetown League of women voters was intended for candidates in all races contested in Georgetown, but in accordance with the rules of the League, it prohibits democratic incumbents Vida Miller, who participated to participate because Kevin Ryan, his Republican challenger for House seat 108, l.c. has not attended as the required group.

Instead, candidates to five school boards had the stage to themselves one of the greatest problems, members of the School Board will have to tackle if elected, is the district budget.

All of the candidates said they would not like to limit the size of the classes, but with a deficit of 3.5 million estimated with the loss of federal funding stimulus only members have to offer a few ideas for what is possible to reduce the budget.

Benny Elliott, a member of the grand jury and a vice President said any personal district and programmes should be looked at.

"We have to discover what is most valuable", he said, and who are determined to be less useful posts or programs would be "cut or combined."

Jim Dumm, another Member of the Board of Directors in General and the current President of the Council, said the district will have to start watching extracurriculars cutting and athletics.

He also said that should increase the size of classes be watched, it would start at the secondary level.

"We cut the graisse.Il was perhaps a little more," he said. "" ""But we are soon going to get to the meat and shortly we will have to cut out the bones.?

Pat DeLeone, a candidate for the seat of the District 2, said it supports the idea of half-time teachers and also to examine the number of days teachers are paid.

"We are going to do the best that we can without affecting students as much as we can," she says.

Johnny Wilson, a candidate for one of two seats to the grand, said the district must look at other sources of funding such as grants and enjoy as much as possible. ""Search and see where the money," he said.

The current Board of Directors member 2 David Curry, was present for some initial questions, which was felt the candidates on teachers ' teaching to the test.

Curry says he understands that it must be a "measure bar" to compare schools throughout the State, but added, "I would like to just teachers may teach."

DeLeone, a retired health sciences professor said she loves the State standards and not feel like they do teachers teach in a test.

"Help students learn these standards," says.

But she said that the standards are high. ""I didn't know that records when I was in ninth grade," she told the standards of the fifth year.

Elliott called testing a "necessary evil", and said: "if we do not have a standard, then each district would be different.

Tests should simply be used to measure where a student is academically and not anything else, he said.

Dumm said he thinks that some tests more diagnostics that are most useful for do not get enough attention.

Wilson said that it supports the standard system, but is against teachers "teaching to the test" and should concentrate on "of the child, prepared for the test."

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