Dunwoody College offers rescuer a chance to resume studies for free

If school bus evacuator Jeremy Hernandez wants to resume learning auto mechanics at Dunwoody College of Technology, he can do so without charge.

By Steve Brandt, Star Tribune

Last update: August 8, 2007 - 9:49 AM

If school bus evacuator Jeremy Hernandez wants to resume learning auto mechanics at Dunwoody College of Technology, he can do so without charge.

The Minneapolis school made that offer to Hernandez's family Saturday.

Hernandez drew national attention when he played a lead role in the evacuation of 61 children and staff members from a school bus caught up in last week's Interstate 35W bridge collapse. They were on a field trip from Waite House, a community agency in the Phillips neighborhood of Minneapolis.

In news coverage afterward, Hernandez said he was working at Waite House after he had dropped out of Dunwoody because of a lack of money.

The school's tuition and fees typically run $15,000 annually.

That prompted a flurry of calls to the school from alumni and staff members, according to Dave Jarzyna, a school spokesman.

"Universally they said we need to do something for this guy," Jarzyna said. "We're going to make sure that if he wants to come to Dunwoody, he'll have the resources to do that."

Hernandez, 20, could not be reached immediately for comment.

"The ball's in his court, and we're hoping to hear from him," Jarzyna said.

STEVE BRANDT