Watch: School Bus Driver Slap Fights Parent, Drives off With Kids on Board
The tensions at schools have been running high in America, especially in the aftermath of the pandemic and rampant school shootings. Worsening the problem is the shortage of school bus drivers, leading to delays — and in some cases, conflict. Earlier this year, there was a bizarre incident in Georgia, in which a school bus driver got into a slap fight with a parent, and then drove off with kids on board.
Substitute school bus driver drops kids off at a dangerous intersection in the Atlanta area
Viral videos have been making the rounds on Twitter, YouTube, and TikTok, showing a strange incident with a substitute school bus driver in Dallas, Georgia, for the Paulding County School District. Paulding County is part of the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia.
The regular driver called in sick that day, resulting in the substitute getting behind the wheel. Unfortunately, the substitute was unfamiliar with the routes and drop-off points for the children. This led to her stopping at a busy intersection, placing the students from Allgood Elementary School in danger.
In an interview with WSB-TV, Dallas Assistant Police Chief Bill Gorman said that when officers arrived, they found traffic backed up behind the school bus. Also, a group of parents were visibly upset. Additionally, he relayed what a parent told him: “That’s so unsafe, and all of the traffic on 278 is rushing by at 60 mph. That’s crazy.”
Children jump out of windows, and the driver and a parent slap each other
In addition to the substitute driver missing the normal drop-off points and unloading kids at a dangerous intersection, another problem is she wouldn’t let some children leave the school bus. She refused to let them disembark because they didn’t have “proper identification tags on their backpacks.”
This resulted in a chaotic situation. Children screamed, and several jumped out the windows, as their parents yelled at the bus driver. Then, things got really heated.
WSB-TV spoke to Samantha Lee, one of the parents. According to Lee, the substitute driver refused to let the children off the bus, and then three parents went inside to get their kids.
She claims that the driver struck first, slapping the parent. “She takes her left hand, and she assaults the parent right here on her neck,” said Lee. The parent then returned the blow, slapping back. Lee continued, “I think in the moment it was like, ‘Smack! Smack!’”
School bus driver takes off with the kids on board
After the slap fight, the driver settled into her seat and closed the doors. She then drove off with the school bus and many kids still on board. The children screamed and hung out the window as the yellow and black vehicle sped away.
Please note: The Twitter video below has some “not safe for work” language.
Lee said, “She closes the doors, and it was kind of like, ‘Okay, I can’t tame you guys, so I’ll take your kids now.’ And she had a smirk on her face and drove away with our kids.” She continued, “I keep replaying, seeing my daughter hanging out the window and screaming at the top of her lungs, and I couldn’t do anything to prevent that, you know. The whole thing has been very emotional for me.”
Parents called the police. Upon arrival, officers helped the children get off the school bus and safely return them to their parents.
After an investigation, the police charged the driver and the parent involved in the fight, per Atlanta News First. Also, the Paulding County School District fired the driver for violating “numerous safety and operating protocols.” This includes “jeopardizing student safety.”
