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Parents outrages by bus driver altercation
A Morgan County Charter School bus driver has been fired after video appears to show him shoving two students on his route.
MORGAN COUNTY, Ga. - A Morgan County Charter Schools bus driver is out of a job after cellphone video taken by a student showed the driver getting physical with two other students on his bus route.
Now, the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office is investigating and the parents of those students want to see charges filed. Nequania Carter said her children, 6 and 10, were traumatized after the encounter with the bus driver last Friday.
"My son is terrified, he was scared, he called for his older sister as you could hear he was crying…he was horrified...you’re supposed to be protecting him," she said.
Video of the incident appears to show the driver pushing her 6-year-old son into a seat. Carter said it all started when the boy didn’t comply with the driver’s order to take a seat in the back of the bus.
"I don’t know why he told them to sit in the back of the bus because the high schoolers sit back there and normally the primaries sit right behind the bus driver," she explained.
When her 10-year-old daughter tried to intervene, video appears to show the driver shove her too.
"I was stunned…the emotional damage that it did…my kids don’t want to go back to school…they don’t want to get back on the school bus," Carter told FOX 5.
She said this isn’t the first time her family has complained to school officials about this driver and believes he targeted them for a reason.
"I’ve never put my hands on a child and I used to drive school buses too," Carter stated.
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for the school system released a statement saying quote:
"The Morgan County Charter School System was made aware of an incident Friday afternoon involving a bus driver and students. We took immediate action, including notifying the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, who we are working with during the investigation. We cannot share further details or comment due to this being a personnel issue; however, the driver was terminated."
Carter said they’ve since taken their children out of the school system all together and they’re anxiously awaiting an update on whether that driver will face charges as well.
Authorities with the Morgan County Sheriff’s Office said the department is finishing up its investigation and will turn it over to the Morgan County Assistant District Attorney to make the call about whether they’ll pursue charges against the driver. They said that decision should be coming in the next few days.