By 25 News
EL PASO – A mother in the El Paso-Gridley School District wants justice after a school bus driver grabbed her son’s head, which was caught on video.
The bus driver was disciplined, but the district says she is still driving in McLean and Woodford Counties.
The video shows the driver yelling at the 11-year-old boy and grabbing his scalp.
His mother, Amanda Wilson, says it happened on Dec. 2, as her son was on his way home from El Paso Gridley Junior High School on Rt. 24 in McLean County.
“When we saw that, we were just appalled. It’s hard to be a mom and watch somebody do that to your child,” said Wilson.
Unit 11 school district says the bus driver was disciplined for what she did, but the board’s policy does not allow that to be made public.
The district also says these actions will not be tolerated.
Superintendent Brian Kurz says she is still employed, but the boy now takes a different bus to school.
Wilson believes more should be done. She’s even put signs up on her house, right next to the district office.
“I would like for her to be fired. That way, she doesn’t have the opportunity to do this again,” said Wilson.
While her son was not hurt, she says it’s affecting him mentally. Wilson says her son is now in therapy.
“At first it was a really rocky start. It was panic attacks every morning. We finally figured out just him having to walk past her bus every morning was really getting him upset,” Wilson continued, “People need to pay a lot more attention to how we’re treating our youth because things are affecting them deeply.”
Kurz says they will be providing more training to their transportation employees to ensure this type of incident is not repeated.
25 News also asked how bus drivers were trained on handling students misbehaving on the bus but have not heard back.
Wilson thinks more training is a great idea.
“We know better than to put our hands on children. You just don’t do it,” said Wilson.
Illinois State Police say their report was sent to the McLean County State’s Attorney’s Office.
State’s Attorney Erika Reynolds says the case is pending review for potential charges.
Unit 11′s full statement as follows:
“School representatives are aware of the video shared on social media of a bus driver’s improper interaction with a student. The incident was immediately investigated when it was brought to the attention of the administration and the bus driver was disciplined for her conduct. The details of the discipline will not be released consistent with the board’s policy concerning confidential personnel matters. While the student was not injured, school representatives have made it clear in the strongest of terms that these actions will not be tolerated. The school district will be providing additional training to our transportation employees to ensure that this type of incident is not repeated.”
