ALBANY — An Albany bus driver, who smelled of alcohol, disregarded requests to stay at Montessori Magnet School and drove off with children on the bus, according to Albany school officials.

The bus driver returned to the school after being contacted "within minutes" and later was found to be over the legal limit.

The Albany School District on Monday confirmed the driver of Bus 172, who is employed by First Student to provide transportation for city students, was placed on administrative leave “pending termination” after the Dec. 15 incident.

A letter was sent to Montessori school families Friday informing them of the incident, and school officials have been working with First Student to resolve the issue in-house, district Superintendent Kaweeda Adams said Monday.

“We want to make sure our students are safe when they are traveling to and from school via transportation,” Adams said. “We are working diligently with First Student to determine the details of this to make sure our students are safe as we work with them to transport our children.”

The bus driver, a woman who wasn’t identified, arrived for her afternoon shift 30 minutes late Friday, and one Montessori staff member suspected the smell of alcohol. The driver was ordered not to operate the bus while the school district contacted First Student supervisors to investigate the matter, however she ignored the order, according to the letter sent to families.

The driver was ordered back to the school within minutes, and the students were taken off the bus until an alternative driver arrived.

“She was directed by the administrator not to leave the property, and she took it upon herself to leave despite being directed not to,” Adams said.

When the driver came back, she was tested for alcohol by officials with First Student and found to be over the legal limit for commercial operation of a motor vehicle - 0.04 percent.

Police were not contacted.

It’s unclear how long the individual has been employed by First Student.

While the school district does have the authority to pull a driver off a bus if students’ safety is of concern, there were no visible signs of intoxication, Adams said.

“We wanted to make sure that the supervisors were called and we followed their protocol,” she said.