Woman sentenced to jail, probation for driving school bus while impaired with students on board

A woman accused of driving a school bus while intoxicated off the road with dozens of students on board has been sentenced to jail time and probation in Chisago County Court.

Kara Jean Ffrench, 59, had one count of driving while intoxicated dismissed but will still need to serve jail time and spend years on probation for a separate DWI charge.

Ffrench was initially sentenced to 364 days in the Chisago County jail. However, a judge opted to instead have her serve 15 days behind bars and the other 349 days will be stayed for 4 years of probation. Ffrench was also given four days of credit for time served.

Back in February, Ffrench was arrested on suspicion of impairment after a bus carrying four dozen students ran off a road in Rush City.

The bus, which had 49 Rush City Schools students on it at the time, went off the road on Game Avenue, north of Tiger Trail, just before 8:15 a.m. Chisago County Sheriff’s deputies arrived where the bus was located and reportedly saw Ffrench, the driver of the bus, showing signs of impairment, leading to her arrest.

None of the students on the bus were injured.