Unpaid citations land school district in court

Talk about it

After the Lake Superior School District had more than $500 dollars in unpaid bus inspection citations that were issued in March, the district was forced into court.

After a spot inspection March 14, three citations were issued, court records show. One citation was issued because a school bus did not have a valid safety inspection decal displayed. The other two citations were for an inoperable stop arm, the extendable stop sign on the driver’s side of the bus; and for an inoperable eight-light system, which is the set of lights generally located on the top and bottom of the back of the bus to warn traffic of an impending stop.

Both of the mechanisms were not working due to an override switch that was in the wrong position, bus mechanic Bob Cox said.

Because the March fines were still unpaid, Lake County brought the citations to court Sept. 26 in an attempt to deem the conviction a petty misdemeanor so that the fines could be collected via a collections agency.

Normally in such cases, a warrant for arrest would be issued if an individual had unpaid citations, but because the district was cited, a different route had to be taken, court officials said.

Superintendent Phil Minkkinen showed up in court and said the fines would be paid. An online search of citations shows the fines were recently paid in full.

Tags: two harbors, lake superior school district, schools, news