File shows bus supervisor's misconduct

GALESBURG, Mich. (WOOD) - The personnel file of a bus supervisor accused of shoving a student against a bus window shows she has a history of losing her temper.

Heidi Mullin recently came under fire after a student captured cellphone video of the supervisor slamming a 7-year-old student up against a window.

Angry parents packed a Galesburg-Augusta Community Schools board meeting Monday night to discuss Mullin's actions and express their frustration about the district's decision to privatize bus service this year. Some there asked for Galesburg-Augusta Superintendent Tim Vagts' resignation.  

Mullin was terminated from her job last week.

Mullin's personnel record from her previous employer Portage Public Schools, obtained by 24 Hour News 8 via the Freedom of Information act, says she was on her "last chance" there when she resigned in February 2012.

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Heidi Mullin's personnel file from Portage (pdf)

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The record says she showed a "consistent pattern of unacceptable behavior" and had "exhausted every other form of progressive discipline."

Throughout the years, she was employed at Portage Public Schools, where she was suspended multiple times without pay, most times because of an issue with her attitude.

On two occasions, Mullin told students on a bus to "shut up," the record says, causing some students to leave the bus in tears. She later admitted to school officials that she was as rude to the children as they were to her.

At the time of the incident shown in the video that has since been removed from YouTube, Mullin was working for Auxilio Services out of Cincinnati, Ohio, a private bus service hired by the school district within the past few months.

Ed Dollin, CEO of Auxilio Services, was at the Monday school board meeting at Galesburg-Augusta High School. He promised community members that Auxilio will make buses more safe.

"Please accept my apology on behalf of the total organization," he told the crowd.

But most of the dozens of people who showed up to the meeting didn't seem to accept that apology, calling the 1-year-old company small and poorly run.

"You cannot put a price on the safety of these kids," said one community member. "What's got to happen next before you guys realize that you've made a horrific mistake?"

Some, including parents and bus drivers who used to work for the district, followed Dollin out of the meeting to continue the conversation. Some of those interchanges became heated.  

Dollin told 24 Hour News 8 the bus service did not know that Mullin had a history of behavioral issues. He said their information did not show that -- but he would not share the information that the private company had.  

Another meeting specifically about the bus incident is set for Thursday. 24 Hour News 8 was told both Dollin and the superintendent will be at that public meeting.