Officials from the Citrus County School District (CCSD), Citrus County Sheriff’s Office (CCSO), and the Department of Children and Families (DCF) are currently investigating an incident between a bus driver and student which occurred the morning of Wednesday, Aug. 31, on the bus.
According to the child’s mother, Elizabeth Gallagher, while on the way to Forest Ridge Elementary School that morning, her then 5-year-old daughter Ka’miah was yelling a song loudly when the male bus driver pulled the bus over, slapped Ka’miah, yelled a profanity at the rest of the students, and then continued driving the rest of the way to school.
Gallagher said she then received a call from both principal Michelle McHugh and assistant principal Sean Ear who made her aware of the incident and said they were going to investigate further.
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Not long after, Gallagher said she received another phone call from the school officials saying the driver has been removed from driving busses until the investigation is concluded and is doing a desk job for now.
“It’s absurd because if any of us assaulted a kid, we would be in jail right now. He didn’t even lose his job,” said Gallagher. “He’s still getting paid right now. It’s just crazy, they’re not doing anything as far as I’m concerned.”
There is also a video of the incident which the school district has said it cannot release pending ongoing investigation. Gallagher has not been allowed to view it either.
“Right now it’s an open and active investigation,” said Lindsay Blair, district spokeswoman, who would not go into detail.
According to Gallagher, the police have said that it’s up to the state attorney’s office to make an arrest, but when she called the state attorney’s office, they said they haven’t received the case file and that it’s up to the police to make an arrest. The detective on the case has been out sick, so the case should be submitted by Monday, according to Gallagher.
“He might’ve been having a bad day or whatever, but at the end of the day, you got no right putting your hand on my kid,” said Gallagher. “And there’s nothing being done about it.”
As a single mother of four who works during the day, she said her kids have to be able to ride the bus safely. Ka’miah just started kindergarten this year and just after a few weeks of finally being out in the world, this person hits her, said Gallagher. She wants her kids to be able to feel safe on the bus and she feels like nothing is being done for them.
As of now, no arrest of the driver has been made. This case is still active and ongoing with further updates to come.
Contact Chronicle Reporter Georgia Sullivan at 352-564-2929.
(3) comments
If it's on video and they know it happened he should be sitting at home waiting for the police not getting paid. Obviously he has no place working with children.
That is the big "if"... why not release the video, it will confirm what happened...it will expose the truth.. why wait.... ?
You could not pay me enough to be a Citrus County School System bus driver. No wonder they have such a shortage...It is a thankless job period.
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