LANHAM, Md. — The Prince George’s County Public School system has been rocked by allegations of abused students and teacher misconduct. But the scene Wednesday was celebratory as students, teachers and school officials at two schools came together to honor a bus driver who risked her life for kids on board a bus when it caught fire earlier this month.
Students at Robert Goddard Montessori and Glen Arden Woods Elementary pulled out all the stops Wednesday for bus driver Renita Smith, who evacuated 20 children from the burning bus and went back into the flames to make sure everyone was evacuated.
At an assembly, a marching band serenaded Smith as she entered the auditorium filled with kids waving signs that read, “Thank You.”
“I was in the front seat so I didn’t know ’til I smelled the smoke,” said Lisa, who is in the third grade. “It was starting from the tire.”
Lisa was one of the 20 children on board when the county bus caught fire Sept. 12. She, and her bus-mates, presented Smith with roses after the county and area businesses awarded her with a plaque and gifts.
“She was really our hero … the only hero I’ve actually met,” Lisa said.
Prince George’s County Schools CEO Kevin Maxwell joined in honoring Smith who has driven for the schools for 17 years.
“To get off that bus and to go back again to make sure that everybody was safely off the bus is heroic,” Maxwell said.
Another student, Joy, wasn’t riding her bus when it caught fire Sept. 12 but saw the flames from her mom’s car and later heard about Smith’s actions.
“That means a lot to me. I’ve always been afraid of death so it was just very emotional,” said the fourth-grade girl.
“I didn’t do it for this,” Smith said after the program in her honor. “I did it because that’s what I’m supposed to do. I’m a mommy. And mommy rocks out for her babies.”
The program was a bright spot for the county that has been embroiled in scandal over allegations of mistreated students and staff misconduct. Only the day before honoring Smith, police arrested a school bus aide who is accused molesting two special needs children.
