A Roadside Kitten Rescue Turned One School Bus Ride Into a National Story
A bus driver’s kitten rescue led to a suspension, a petition with 11,000 signatures and a family debate over adopting the cat.
A school bus driver spotted a kitten in the middle of the road and made sure it got to safety. What could have ended as a small act of kindness instead grew into a much bigger story, bringing petitions, fundraising and even support from PETA.
How a kitten ended up at one family’s door
On Sept. 30, Taffy Thomas got an unexpected call about half an hour after her 10-year-old son, Alex, boarded his school bus. The driver, Cynthia Morgan, told her that a cat had been found in the middle of the road and that Alex had said his mother would take care of it.
Thomas said Morgan dropped Alex and the other children off at North Harford Elementary School, then returned to the family’s home with the kitten. The animal was described as black with blotchy orange coloring.
Alex, a fifth grader, said he was the first student Morgan picked up that morning. Before the next stop, he said, she pointed out the kitten in the road. He later told his mother that the bus stop sign was out and there was no traffic coming when he got off the bus to retrieve the animal.
Alex said helping the kitten felt like common sense, and he believed it was frightened. He compared its size to a bag of Party Mix.
Why the rescue drew scrutiny
Thomas said the idea that her son might have been in danger did not occur to her at first. She said that changed only after Morgan texted her to say she had been suspended for a few days.
Thomas said she did not believe Morgan would have allowed Alex to be in harm’s way. Morgan had been Alex’s bus driver for most of his elementary school years, and Alex knew her as Ms. Cynthia. He described her as someone who gave gifts to students and said she once bought him a Ring Pop.
The school system did not frame the matter as a simple one issue case. Jillian Lader, a spokesperson for Harford County Public Schools, said decisions about certification or decertification for bus drivers and attendants are made after a careful review of relevant information and are often based on more than one circumstance or requirement.
Lauren Paige, president of the school board, said she understood the desire to help an animal. At the same time, she said allowing a student to leave a school bus and enter a roadway to pick up an unfamiliar animal raises safety concerns. She added that even on a rural road with limited traffic, conditions can change quickly and that safety rules are meant to protect students in unpredictable situations.
Morgan worked for Cleary’s Transportation Co., a contractor for the school system. A person who answered the phone for the company said Morgan no longer worked there. Morgan could not be reached for comment.
Support for the driver spread far beyond the bus route
The response from the community was swift. A petition calling for Morgan to be reinstated said she lost her job over the kitten rescue and drew more than 11,000 signatures. The issue also drew national media attention.
Julie Long, who started the petition, said her 8-year-old grandson rode that bus. She described Morgan as a down to earth person, a friend and another grandmother to her own grandchildren. Long also said that if her grandchildren had been the ones getting the cat, she would not have been worried. In her view, the road was not dangerous, and there are moments when a person has to do what seems right.
Long said she had also raised more than $3,000 through a GoFundMe and planned to give the money to Morgan so she could pay her bills.
PETA also entered the debate. Colin Henstock, the group’s associate director, said the situation looked like an act of kindness and empathy that should not be punished or discouraged. The organization sent a letter to members of the Harford County Board of Education urging them to return Morgan to her bus routes, arguing that student safety and compassion should not be treated as opposing choices.
The kitten now has a foster home, and maybe a future name
For all the attention on the adults, the kitten itself is safe. Thomas said the family is still deciding whether to adopt it, and for now the animal is with a foster family.
She has already come up with one possible name: Brookie, because the kitten reminded her of both a brownie and a cookie.
Alex, who lives with a dog, a cat and a leopard gecko, has his own ideas. If he can persuade his father to give him a new pet for his 11th birthday next month, he wants to rename the kitten Percy, after Percy Jackson, or Devourer of Universes. He said the second option is only a joke because the little cat is nothing like that.
That may be the smallest twist in a story full of larger ones. A kitten was pulled from the road. A driver’s judgment was questioned. And a family that was only supposed to get a child to school wound up helping decide what comes next for a tiny cat now known, at least for the moment, as Brookie.
