Driver forces kids off school bus, makes them walk in snow

<p>A school bus driver made a 5-year-old girl and seven other kindergartners get off the vehicle and walk when it got stuck in the snow during the height of Thursday's storm.</p>

News 12 Staff

Nov 16, 2018, 10:59 PM

Updated 1,995 days ago

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A school bus driver made a 5-year-old girl and seven other kindergartners get off the vehicle and walk when it got stuck in the snow during the height of Thursday's storm.
"She was scared. She was also soaking wet -- her socks, everything was soaking wet," says Samantha Kassl, of Selden, mother of 5-year-old Alexandra.
Samantha Kassl says she saw three school buses struggling to make it uphill to a bus stop. When one of the buses slid backward and crashed into a mailbox, she says she called the school trying to find her daughter.
"It's kind of scary. You don't know where your 5-year-old is," says father Adam Kassl, who went out looking for his daughter's bus. He says he saw a few buses stuck in the snow up the street, but no children. He then flagged down a passing bus, and his daughter was on board.
"So what they had done was, they took eight kindergartners, 4 and 5 years old, and walk them along a road without sidewalks in the dark, in the snow, to go to another bus," says Samantha Kassl. "All while not contacting any of the parents."
The school superintendent issued a statement saying in part: "The transportation office did reach out and called the parents of all ten children on the bus, using the parent contact information on file with the district. They were able to make contact with the parents of eight of the ten children. The District is still investigating the situation."
But Adam Kassl says they never received that call, even after his daughter came home.
The Kassl family and other parents of children on that bus say the lack of communication about the whereabouts of their kids is unacceptable. They plan on taking up the matter with the district at the next school board meeting.


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