Associated Press

VALPARAISO — A northwestern Indiana school bus driver has been arrested on allegations that she let children as young as 11 years old drive the bus.

The Porter County Sheriff's Office said 27-year-old Joandrea McAtee of Portage was arrested Friday on preliminary felony charges of child neglect. The department said McAtee allowed three students — ages 11, 13 and 17 — to drive the bus for a short distance in a rural area near Valparaiso as she was dropping students off from school.

Officials say McAtee was fired by the Porter Township school district following an investigation prompted by a parent complaint to a Boone Grove High School resource officer about students driving the bus Thursday.

McAtee remained jailed Saturday. Online court records didn't list a defense attorney for her.