Twenty-six Northampton Area School District students are safe after being abandoned in a Bath parking lot March 1 when the bus driver pulled over, stepped off the vehicle and walked away.

The students, in grades 6 through 12, were either picked up by parents or taken home in another bus. Their original bus driver has been charged with 26 counts of endangering the welfare of children - one for each of the juvenile students aboard the bus - as well as careless driving, reckless driving and driving under the influence of alcohol or controlled substance.

According to Trooper Kenneth Wong, of the Pennsylvania State Police Troop M, Bethlehem, Lori Ann Mankos, 44, an employee of First Student, the transportation company that buses NASD students, was observed by her passengers as driving erratically just after 3 p.m. She pulled into the parking lot of Sunoco, 109 W. Main St., Bath, exited the bus, handed the keys to a Sunoco employee and walked away, according to the report.

The bus and the students remained unattended until officials from NASD and officers from state police and Moore Township Police Department arrived at the scene, Wong stated in the report.

Police found Mankos at her residence in Walnutport and took her into custody. She was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge John Capobianco, Nazareth, and sent to Northampton County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail.

In an interview March 2, NASD Superintendent of Schools Joseph S. Kovalchik said he learned of the incident about 3:30 p.m. after receiving a call from Brian Leskowich, NASD director of transportation. Leskowich and NASD Police Chief Will Williams and Officer Ricky Knecht traveled to the scene.

“[Leskowich] said approximately 30 students were on the bus and the driver was not there,” Kovalchik said of his conversation. “My first question was, ‘Is everyone safe?’ And he responded, ‘Yes.’”

Some students used their cellphones to call or text their parents, many of whom picked up their children from the Sunoco lot.

“First Student brought a substitute driver to the scene,” Kovalchik said. “The substitute driver drove the students who were there home.”

Leskowich and Kovalchik remained in the NASD Administration Building, addressed media questions and called the parents of the students on the bus to check on their welfare.

The school district was to continue its investigation by speaking with students this week and work with authorities on their part.

Kovalchik said he also planned to speak with First Student officials this week regarding the procedures and protocols the transportation company has in place.

He confirmed that First Student had reached out to him after the incident.

“Keep in mind, this is not a district employee,” Kovalchik said of Mankos. “First Student does a series of background checks. It’s their responsibility to work with the authorities and determine the consequences for this person.

“I’ve been in NASD as an educator for 28 years - 21 of those as an administrator - and this is the first time anything like this happened,” Kovalchik said.

More than 60 buses transport NASD students during school days. There are 51 full-size First Student buses, plus I-U buses. Each bus has an interior video camera, according to Kovalchik, who added the video from the bus involved in the March 1 incident will be reviewed by authorities.

“We’re going to work with the authorities very closely and make sure this person is prosecuted to the extent of the law,” Kovalchik said. “It’s unacceptable.”