School Bus Driver Caught on Camera Appearing to Hit 6-Year-Old: ‘There Was No Need’

A mother has accused a school bus driver of hitting her 6-year-old son while his back was turned in an incident she says was caught on video.

Ashley Wilson said Tuesday that her son Jemi, a first-grade student at Lydia Jane Hawk Elementary School in Thurston County, came home crying on Oct. 2, claiming the bus driver hit him, according to reports.

Wilson went to the transportation department to view the footage. She said it confirmed what her son had told her, and now she wants answers.

“The bus driver is on camera getting out of his seat, walking straight to my 6-year-old son while his back was turned, and slapped him on the butt,” Wilson told The JOLT. 

Video from the bus camera shows the bus driver, who was not identified and currently faces no formal charges, closing the bus door before walking toward the back of the bus. The 6-year-old can be seen standing on his seat when the video appears to show the bus driver hit his back or backside.

“I mean, there was no audio [from] the video. But I know that if that bus driver would have been trying to talk to [Jemi] or calling [Jemi’s] name, he would have at least looked back,” Wilson told The JOLT.

Wilson also alleges that last May, the same bus driver had threatened her son after he was play-fighting with his sister.

“Emerald got off the bus, his older sister, and told me that the bus driver had threatened to hit Jemi," she told KIRO-TV.

The mother said she temporarily stopped her son from taking the school bus after the recent incident and that she reached out to the school district, but never heard anything back, per reports.

After seeing the same bus driver on a route last Friday, she reached out again. She said officials then told her he had been moved to another route.

"There was no need for him to hit my kid." Wilson told KIRO-TV. "He hit my kid, so why wouldn’t he hit anyone else’s kid? That’s a safety concern in itself. I don’t know this bus driver. I don’t know what he’s capable of, especially after hitting my kid. So for him to even be in a distance of picking up other kids or driving by my son, that’s a lot for him. That’s trauma to him."

Amy Blondin, executive director of communications with North Thurston Public Schools, gave the following statement to KIRO-TV:

“North Thurston Public Schools transports more than 10,000 students each day, working to get students safely to and from school each day. We provide comprehensive safety, student management, and communication training to our more than 100 bus drivers. While we cannot speak on specific personnel matters, we took quick and appropriate action in this situation to ensure student safety.”

The Thurston County Prosecutor’s Office is reviewing the case, per KIRO.