A Cleveland Metropolitan School District bus driver has been reassigned to different duties after he allegedly grabbed an 11-year-old student by the neck and threw the boy's glasses out a window.
According to a CMSD spokesperson, the incident happened on May 4 outside of Joseph M. Gallagher School on Franklin Avenue.
The driver — who is not being named since he hasn't been criminally charged — has driven for the district for about a year.
According to a written statement by the child, the driver approached the boy after a few other students started yelling and causing a disturbance on the bus.
The driver walked up to the boy, yelled at him and grabbed him by the neck, the 11-year-old said in a statement. The boy also said the driver took his glasses from him and tossed them out a window. A car drove over them moments later, he said.
The driver is no longer working with children, according to the school district. He has a due-process hearing scheduled with school officials to determine if he will keep his job.
The district released the following statement:
The conduct displayed by the bus driver is unacceptable and disturbing. He has been removed from his duties, pending the outcome of hearings set forth in the Union contract. We have been in touch with the family of the students who brought this to our attention, and are providing counseling and other supports for those affected.
CMSD has zero tolerance for mistreatment of our students, and the reported conduct is not representative of the care and dedication routinely provided by our school bus drivers.
