It's a detention. How is that too harsh? 

 Because she could've been really sick and just heading home to have a parent, remember she is only 15, take care of contacting the school later. She might not of had any real mal-intent. On top of that her very good deed potentially could have saved lives depending on where the bus would have ended up while it was out of control.

She should have received a written/oral reprimand and told what would happen in the future if she didn't properly contact shool authorities that she needed to go home sick. 

might have been just blanket school policy---

That's harsh! What the hell is wrong with that school? Here, when people miss class without calling once, they get only one detention after school, nothing more.

She saved lives! ...That school is seriously messed up.

I don't know-the newspaper reported that she was indeed skipping school.

SEASIDE, Calif. - A 15-year-old girl who stopped an out-of-control school bus she was riding on was handed a Saturday detention instead because she was skipping school.
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Marina High School student Amanda Rouse was on a bus with 40 elementary school students Wednesday morning when the driver fell out of her seat after a turn and hit her head.

Rouse jumped up and applied the brakes, bringing the bus to a halt after striking two parked cars. No one was injured.

She said had asked the bus driver for a ride because she felt sick at school.

"She is in trouble with school because she made the wrong decision," said Rouse's grandmother, Sally Correll. "But I can't help but believe that she was where God wanted her to be."

A spokesperson for the Monterey Peninsula Unified School District could not immediately be reached Saturday.

..
And no one seems to be fighting that charge.

Anyways, back at my old high school, you get detention for being late to class so getting detention for skipping school seems more than fair. This reminds me of a story of a security guard who somehow dreamt that someone placed a bomb in a warehouse he was guarding. He quickly woke up and alerted the authorities who did find a bomb and quickly diffused it. The manager of the place thank the guard and then promptly fired him for sleeping on the job. I can't verify this story however, so I don't know if it's true or not.

X_X. GRMPHGG

Indeed skipping school... asked the bus driver for a ride home cause she felt sick..... contradiction?