A parent and grandparent of a first-grade student involved in a physical altercation with his bus driver is speaking out regarding the matter, criticizing the school board for the way it’s handling the situation, and even has a nickname for the driver; "slap-happy."
Charles Mosley, whose son was slapped by the driver of his bus almost two weeks ago, said the incident should have never occurred because the kids were simply playing a game and meant no harm.
"I was told by my son and a neighbor boy, and I’m not saying any names, that the bus driver slapped my child playing a game," Mosley said. "I call the bus driver slap-happy and it’s someone the school board should have fired, but excuse my French, they’re too retarded to fire him."
The driver, who wishes to remain anonymous until the matter is resolved, even admits to slapping the child, even saying that he has regretted it since it happened.
"From the very instant, I regretted that I happened," he said. "I certainly meant no harm to the boy and in hindsight, I shouldn’t have touched him at all."
According to him, the students were in the process of being reloaded following a bus evacuation drill. The driver went on to explain that the kids were "all wound up," and the child involved was clowning around and kidding with another child when he (driver) was poked in the face and, triggering his reaction.
Despite the driver admitting to slapping the child, Mosley said he is not satisfied with the explanation of the incident and believes it conflicts with the way things actually happened. Mosley even said his child still has a "mark" on his face from the contact.
"He (driver) was not poked because the bus driver smacked his hand away, and could not poke him," Mosley said. "So, I don’t figure how he was poked when he slapped his hand away and smacked him.
"My son does have a mark on his face to this day," he added. "It’s a little bruise and you can actually tell that it’s a finger, a bigger man’s finger. It ain’t no kid’s finger, it’s a man finger."
Gail Conley, the grandmother of the student, agreed with Mosley in the situation said even though her grandson is being painted as the instigator in some instances, there was no cause to make contact with the child.
"The bus driver in this situation, I understand him trying to defend himself, but he did wrong," Conley said. "What they were doing was playing the game ‘you got something on your shirt,’ where you point to something on someone’s shirt and when they look down, they flip them up in the face.
"I know it was during a bus drill and all the kids were rambunctious, but this bus driver said he wanted to show the child that it was not appropriate behavior," she added. "Playing a game is not appropriate behavior for an eight-year-old? It’s just retarded the way they are portraying my grandson in this whole thing like he is a big brute of a kid and a disciplinary problem when he is a good kid and he gets good grades. I am sorry, but slapping the child is inappropriate behavior."
Though the driver involved stated in a previous story that the child involved had been disciplined earlier in the year, Mosley also said that was false, claiming that his child had been placed on the front seat of the bus because that’s where he wanted his child to sit.
"My child is a straight A student," Mosley said. "I placed him on the front seat, because that’s where I wanted him and that way I wouldn’t have to look for him on the bus.
"He was not placed there, I put him there," he added.
As for the child’s overall demeanor, the father described him as a normal child who likes to play and have fun and works hard in school. Mosley said he works hard in the classroom with positive results brought home every week.
"He is just a normal child," he said. "He runs, plays, rides his bike and we never have a problem.
"As far as his classroom work, he comes home with a 104 percent on his spelling test every week," he added.
Mosley had a few choice words pertaining to the way he and his attorney have been treated regarding the incident, saying the denial of an Open records request as getting the "run-around."
"They are a bunch of retards," Mosley said. "They are giving me the run-around and they give my attorney, Graham Trimble, the run-around.
"They won’t release anything we request saying they can’t right now," he added.
As for any action on the matter, Assistant Superintendent Darrell Tremaine said
said a decision on the matter could come as early as this week.
Tremaine said Tuesday that he and Superintendent Ed McNeel had been working on the situation and have been gathering information regarding the incidents. Tremaine cited the Board’s allotted 20 day timeframe regarding the situations, but said something should be decided before then.
"We have been looking into things and Mr. McNeel should have something final later this week or early next week," Tremaine said. "The Board has 20 days from the date of the suspensions to make a decision and we should be able to do so within that amount of time."
As for what action Mosley and his attorney will be taking in the future, Mosley said he is not at liberty to say at this point and as of press time, Trimble could not be reached for comment.
The driver involved in the incident remains on paid suspension until the matter is solved.
