Bus driver grabbing child on school premises

[Matrix]

Afternoon

I'm posting here to see if I can get any more information on an incident that happened the Thursday ( 21st ) before Christmas .

My Son (13 years old) had just got on the school bus (he suffers from ADHD and the school have been working with him on this along with sensory issues. ) He was standing talking and was asked to take his seat which he did while they still loaded up then the main bus driver who owns the company came up to him and asked him to get off the bus.

My son replied why what have I done and again he was told get off and if you want to get home you best get on the other bus (which wasn't his normal school bus)
My son was upset and then went to step on the other bus while he was looking at the this bus drive who was eye balling him and as he was about to step on to the bus he was then grabbed and pulled back and told from the driver/ owner your not getting on. To which my my son said get off me you ******* k***head .

We was called by the school could we pick him up and our son was in a right state . We got the school and spoke to the head of transport at the school and the head and said this wasn't on and he shouldn't have sworn at the driver but after being grabbed and pulled back it could be a reaction of some people ( it would have been mine) .Myself and my wife were both mad as the driver/owner said he grabbed him etc to which he was told he shouldn't have done and then started making up things that our son was rolling around the bus floor and causing chaos . The bus has CCTV and we asked if it could be looked at to clarify what the hell had gone on.

Later that night the head of transport teacher at the school told us he wouldn't be allowed on the bus in the morning after speaking to the bus driver/owner so could we get him there but we will sort it out and get him home and have the owner/ driver of the bus to sit down with our son to calm everything over . We said that's fine and explained to him that he need to say sorry for swearing etc and be polite . We we're both seething that a person has grabbed / assaulted him but was willing to let it go if we could make head way and both partiers sorted it out and moved one.

School was finishing midday as it was Christmas break around 9.30 that morning we got phone from this head of transport at the school saying the owner/driver didn't want to meet our son and that he wouldn't be allowed back on the bus until the new year. The teacher was calling the driver blind a saying our son was being grown up over it and the driver was being a baby and he's making a rod for own back and he shouldn't have grabbed him etc

We left it over Christmas but did speak to some parents and family and they were shocked and have said that the school should have called the police as it happened on there property and have a duty of care. We both went in school this morning after debating what to do over the holidays and swapping emails with the teacher yesterday on there training day.

They have pretty much said it's not our problem and your contract is with the bus driver/owner to which I've pointed out if I grabbed a student on there premises surely I get a call from the police and banded from there grounds so what's the difference here and more so he's admitted to doing it and has refused to show anyone the cctv he claims to have ? And a person in the position of a driver should know better not to do this ? .

We are awaiting a meeting with the head of academy when they get back to us but after this mornings run-in with the head of transport it felt like he'd been told to say were not interested from here and went back on stuff he'd said previously.
This just feels all wrong.

Its like banging your head against a brick wall with the school it seems and we are really not sure what to do next , Do we call police and ask there advice where we stand on a legal matter as from what I've read while searching online that the incident happened on school grounds it's for them to get this reported and sorted not us.

Any help advice would be fantastic sorry for the long post.

Thank you

 

[Matrix]

As long as your son can still use the bus service at the moment then i'd drop it and move on. You can argue that grabbing someone is like a physical assault but without a third party witness or cctv then it cannot be proven and by swearing at the driver it just made things worse.

Yeah he been removed from that bus put on another one he needs to walk further too same company .
The letter did say after reviewing cctv he wasn't allowed on the that bus , Which to be fair I'd like to see myself as if he was out of line we'd come down on him like a ton of bricks but people have said he didn't do anything wrong and when the driver/owner got on the bus with a child's bus pass the teacher said that wasn't our son and someone's else's bus pass.

Just seem like that the story keeps changing from the bus end all the time . If it was me and i had nothing to hide I'd show the school the cctv and say this why and that's why I removed him

 

[Matrix]

Do you pay a fee for the bus service and if you do who to, the school or the transport company?

£600 a year to this company ( school year Sept to July)

 

[Matrix]

Good thing buses are covered in CCTV cameras then.

I'd keep pushing for the CCTV footage and threaten to go to the police if they kept witholding it. Teenagers are dickheads so it's possible OPs son was most at fault but if someone grabbed my son and threw him off the bus I'd like to see for myself who was most at fault.

Agreed and thats one reason I'd like to see what has gone on as i said in a post above he'd be in huge trouble if he was playing up !

 

[Matrix]

Didn't any of the other students film the incident? Maybe they are hiding what really happened. But if your son was in the wrong why would the school and bus company not show you the CCTV footage they have.

No we've asked it happened like in seconds . The bus company haven't even shown the school the cctv and thats another issue we have with them and keeps making us feel somethings not right here.
Though some of his friends said he hadn't done anything on the bus when accused and were meant to be speaking to teachers today over it

 

[Matrix]

Without seeing a video of what happened or listening to the bus driver's account we only have half a story....it is difficult to take sides without being biased.

You said that your son has ADHD...not really an excuse from a health and safety POV, and you said he was talking, how loudly and in what manner? You said he was asked to sit down, meaning he needed to be told to sit down, and not by his own accord, meaning he wasn't "just" talking.

To me, there is part of the story that is missing here. Without it, can't really pass judgment. I know you are the parent, so you are taking your son's side, naturally but what is the other side of the story?

He got on the bus and was one of the first on there, As he was moving up to sit down he seen his mate and started talking to him . Then he was asked could you take your seat like he did and sat with his other friend .

The bus driver is the owner of the company and is known from what the kids say around here screaming and shouting at them. which part of me gets if there mucking around and not getting on the bus but to be fair the run in i had had with him yesterday when he posted the letter through our door i can see what they mean. And even when i questioned him about what went on the story changed again from what he said to school and what the school re-laid back to us the Thursday and Friday before Christmas.

Considering some kids play their music from there phones I'm thinking he wasn't loud but again seeing cctv would clear a lot up .

 

[Matrix]

The refusal to show the CCTV footage that would back him up and sort the issue out very quickly makes me think the bus driver is either lying about what happened, or there is meant to be CCTV (IIRC most busses have had it as standard for years at this point*) and it's not working but is required for the insurance.

It certainly sounds like the guy should possibly not be working around children. or is playing games with regards to clearing it up because cameras that are meant to be there, aren't.

And i'm saying this knowing we're only getting the op's side of the story.


*I'm fairly sure it's been fitted as standard for a very long time at this point, as most insurance companies pretty much expect external cameras to help with claims, and internal to help with assaults/etc on the drivers.

Was un aware of that to be fair about insurance etc . I just can't work out why the school haven't asked for it or they have not said anything . Its just frustrating very frustrating..

 

[Matrix]

What is it your son is supposed to have done then? The school must have said something? They can't just be saying "the driver kicked him off the bus and that's ok" and nothing else.


Presumably that the child doesn't have a valid ticket for travel if it's not his bus pass?


You don't necessarily need CCTV. We haven't been told what the reason is, e.g. bus company say child was acting like a **** / unsafe / whatever.

Said he was rolling around the floor but the teacher that got on to sort out someone else's bus pass said he wasn't at all and was sat down . I'd love to see anyone roll around a bus floor to be fair

The bus wasn't even moving it was still loading up to be fair from a few of the kids around here they moan about him saying he's not a nice guy. Though saying that sure others say he is..

 

[Matrix]

Sorry, I did...but got lost halfway due to the lack of comma! My fault, some of the grammar confused the crap out of me when shifting "They" and "Our" in the same sentence when it is the same body (school) lol my bad

Anyway...let me get this right, I am just trying to pin that the objective, not subjective part. In short:-

OP son claimed bus driver "assaulted" him by physically removing him from the bus. (Which I agree, can't do that.)
OP are trying to get CCTV.
Bus company and the school not helping.
OP wants to know what to do?



Right, I see. A lot of things you said are hearsay, except the bit about the bus driver being the owner, that is a fact. The rest of it is hearsay and won't get you anywhere in a legal sense. If the school says it's not their problem then next step is the police if you want to pursue this. I can't see it any other way. You could go to the local papers but they also are not going to entertain it without some proof besides your word.

I just personally think the school should be taking some stance over this more than they are washing there hands of it when it's on there grounds and they give the drive a contract to pick and drop of kids.

A 60 ( guessing) old man grabbing a 13 years old by the shoulder and pulling him back in my eye isn't correct and the fact he admitted that night he shouldn't have done it puzzles my why the school haven't done anything about it.

As I'm sure as hell thinking if i went in there and grabbed someone I'd be removed from grounds and not allowed in . I know one parents shouted at the teachers as his child was getting bullied and was getting nowhere and they banned him.