On September 16, at about 3:15 p.m., Cumberland County school bus driver Sondra McMillion was behind the wheel of Bus 534 on Geese Court in Hope Mills when authorities said 31-year-old Dezarae Thomas stepped aboard.
McMillion instructed Thomas to get off the bus, but Thomas refused, according to a probable cause affidavit. Instead, Thomas moved closer to McMillion and began arguing with the driver and students from Gallberry Farms Elementary School.
Two days later, Thomas was arrested and charged with trespassing on a school bus.
Nine days after the encounter on Bus 534, the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office said another adult boarded a school bus and refused to leave.
On September 25, at 7:56 a.m., 64-year-old Tonya Moses boarded Bus 602 on Camden Road in Fayetteville, according to the Sheriff’s Office. The bus transports students from Elizabeth Cashwell Elementary School.
The driver instructed Moses to leave immediately, but she refused, authorities said. Moses was arrested later that day and charged with trespassing on a school bus.
Thomas, arrested on September 18, was processed at the Cumberland County Detention Center and released on a $500 unsecured bond. Sheriff’s deputies arrested Moses on the same day she allegedly stepped on the school bus. She was released from the county jail on a $5,000 unsecured bond.
The two September arrests come after school bus trespassing arrests in Cumberland County had fallen in recent years—and as the school district is again reminding families that parents and other unauthorized adults are not permitted to board school buses.
Bus Trespassing Arrests Dropped Last Year
In October 2025, CityView reported that six people had been charged with school bus trespassing in 2023 and again in 2024, while just one person had been charged so far in 2025.
At the time, Cumberland County School officials said most incidents involved parents or guardians and were often related to concerns such as bullying, discipline, or bus-stop locations. District officials said bus drivers were instructed not to physically intervene when someone became aggressive and instead to contact dispatch so a supervisor or school resource officer could respond.
Under North Carolina law, unauthorized entry onto a school bus is a Class 1 misdemeanor, which can bring a sentence of up to 120 days in jail. The law prohibits entering a school bus after being forbidden to do so by an authorized school employee or refusing to leave after being ordered to do so.
‘Please Do Not Board the Bus’
Cumberland County Schools did not respond to CityView’s request for comment about the two September incidents.
In its September 20 “Need to Know” update, four days after the incident involving Thomas, the district reminded families that only school personnel and students are permitted to board school buses.
“Unauthorized individuals may face criminal charges for trespassing or impeding the operation of a school bus,” the district said.
Cumberland County Schools told parents who have concerns involving their children not to board a bus and instead to contact their child’s school administrator so the matter can be addressed “safely and appropriately.”
The district again included a school bus safety reminder in its October 4 update.
“If you have a concern involving your child, please do not board the bus; instead, contact your child’s school administrator so the matter can be addressed safely and appropriately,” the district said.
Sheriff Johnathan Morgan issued a similar warning following both arrests.
“To ensure every child is safe, please do not pass the threshold of a school bus,” Morgan said in a press release. “Access to the school bus is restricted to authorized personnel and students only.”
Morgan said parents may accompany their children to the bus, but they cannot board. He also urged parents who observe bullying to report it.
