Unruly Girls Arrested on School Bus

"Work Hard and Be Nice" reads the slogan of the St. Mary's County public schools. Three Great Mills High School students, it would seem, need a refresher course.

The St. Mary's County Sheriff's Office arrested three teenage girls on several charges Wednesday after an incident inside a school bus in which authorities said the students became unruly and resisted arrest.

After school had ended that day, one student on the bus refused to sit in an assigned seat, according to law enforcement and school officials. She started cursing, screaming and disrupting the bus, said Lt. Edward A. Willenborg, commander of the Special Operations Division at the Sheriff's Office.

When repeated requests for the student to calm down went unheeded, a school resources officer, Deputy Andrew Holton, attempted to arrest her, officials said. As the deputy did so, two other students stepped in to try to stop the arrest, Willenborg said. During the ruckus, one student allegedly shoved the deputy.

The students' names were not released because of their ages.

Willenborg said that all three girls, ages 13, 16 and 17, were from Great Mills All three girls were charged with disrupting school activities, resisting arrest and hindering, Willenborg said. The 16-year-old was additionally charged with second-degree assault.

"We take this very seriously," said Kathleen M. Lyon, head of student services. She would not comment specifically on the students, but said that the school system's policy holds that any student who commits these kinds of assaults would receive an automatic 10-day suspension.

No injuries were reported in the incident.