RICHMOND, Va. -- A woman who has been driving school buses for 23 years is asking for help after she said she was bullied by the middle school students who ride her bus in Richmond.
The driver, who spoke to WTVR CBS 6 reporter Sandra Jones on the condition of anonymity because she fears losing her job, said the problem started in September when school officials changed her route.
The driver spoke to WTVR CBS 6 reporter Sandra Jones
While transporting middle school students, the woman said the children yelled verbal threats and tossed a variety of school supplies, including writing instruments, at her.
"They would do pencils. They would take this paper and fold it real tight, so it would have more weight to come to the front of the bus,” she explained. "It's gotten to the point that it escalated so long that the children honestly think they could get away with it."
She said that when she pulled the bus over to try to calm the kids, she also reported the incident to dispatch.
“A couple of times took them back to school. I did everything. I wrote countless paperwork. Some I got back, some I didn't,” she said.
The bus driver said she was bullied on her bus.
After no response from her supervisors and school administrators, she contacted the CBS 6 Problem Solvers for help.
"I don't want anything to happen to a child's life -- and definitely not mine," she said.
The bus driver said she met with school officials this week, and after reviewing the video from the bus of a recent incident, she said leaders changed her route because of unsafe conditions.
"They took me off of that particular route and now, I'm just like a sub,” she said. “I just have to sub for my first bell and I just do my other schools."
And even though she is on a different route, the city bus driver is still not satisfied.
"Not completely, because I have to keep on seeing different children for a while,” she said.
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Richmond City Public Schools
