Mount Prospect Dist. 57 bus driver pleads not guilty to DUI

Betty Burden, the former Mount Prospect Elementary District 57 bus driver accused of being intoxicated while she drove 50 students home from school, pleaded not guilty to aggravated DUI on Wednesday.

During the brief hearing in a Rolling Meadows courtroom, prosecutors turned over a large stack of papers and reports to Burden's attorney, Ernie Blomquist.

"I still have to hold the state accountable to a lot of things," Blomquist said. "The state has a lot of proving to do, and we're going to meet those challenges."

Police charged the 54-year-old Mount Prospect woman in March after police say she drove 50 schoolchildren while she was intoxicated. Responding to a report of suspected intoxication from Burden's supervisor, police stopped the bus she was driving the afternoon of March 9.

Her blood-alcohol content registered .230 at the scene, police said. A little more than a week later, the school board fired her and the supervisor.

Burden has no criminal background, Blomquist said.

If convicted, she could face between one and three years in prison. She could also receive probation.