A Nebraska school district was left shaken in May after authorities discovered that a school bus driver had been transporting dozens of children while extremely intoxicated, an incident law enforcement officials said could have ended in tragedy.
Betty Johnson, 68, a bus driver for the Norris School District in Lancaster County, was arrested on May 7, 2025, after being found with a blood alcohol content nearly three times the legal limit. According to court records and local reports, Johnson later accepted a plea deal in which she pleaded no contest to misdemeanor charges of DUI with a BAC over 0.15, child abuse, and first-offense reckless driving. In exchange, prosecutors dropped two counts of transporting a child while intoxicated.
On the morning of May 7, Johnson drove her regular route carrying approximately 40 students, including young children. After completing that route, she had several hours before returning for a scheduled noon pickup. Authorities later said Johnson admitted to drinking before the noon route, which included preschool-aged children, and also admitted to drinking again after completing that trip.
Concerns arose later that afternoon, around 3:30 p.m., when school staff contacted the district’s school resource officer after noticing something was wrong. A deputy responded and found Johnson to be “noticeably extremely highly intoxicated,” according to the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office. A breath test showed her blood alcohol content was 0.22, far above the legal driving limit of 0.08. She was arrested and taken to the local jail.
Law enforcement officials said the situation narrowly avoided becoming far worse. Johnson had been scheduled to drive an after-school route that day, but school staff intervened before that could happen. “We were very lucky that she got caught and was not allowed to do that after-school one,” Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said at the time.
The Norris School District terminated Johnson’s employment immediately following her arrest. District officials stated that she would never drive for the school district again and emphasized that student safety remained their top priority. They also thanked the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office for its swift response.
Although no children were physically injured, the incident deeply unsettled parents, educators, and the broader community. Officials described it as an unprecedented breach of trust and stressed that early intervention likely prevented a much more serious outcome.
