A Denton ISD school bus driver is on leave after parents shared a video with the district showing that driver narrowly avoiding running over three children at a Prosper bus stop. The parent’s of one of those kids tell us the action taken doesn’t go far enough.
A school bus driver in Texas has been "removed and placed on administrative leave" after he was caught on video nearly running over children that he just dropped off.
The father of one of the children, Matt McCormick, said he was at the end of his driveway in Prosper Wednesday to greet his son. Another parent’s dashboard camera video, which McCormick shared with NBC Dallas-Fort Worth, shows what happened next.
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As two children cross in front of the bus, the driver appears to drive forward, barely missing the kids.
Video shows McCormick's son Dash stepping back just in time.
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“If he had slipped or anything, he’d have been under the front wheels,” McCormick said.
As the bus moves forward, McCormick and another parent can be heard yelling, but the driver continues on as the children run to safety.
“What bothers me the most is he didn’t even stop to slow down or to see if any kids were OK. He just kept going, and that is unacceptable,” he said.
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Denton Independent School District released a statement Wednesday saying the incident is under investigation.
“Denton ISD has been made aware of this incident, which occurred yesterday (Aug. 30). The driver has been removed and placed on administrative leave while an investigation is conducted. However, due to the ongoing nature of this investigation, and since it involves the employment status of all involved, we cannot discuss any additional specifics.
We want to assure our community that we take this very seriously, and the safety of each student in Denton ISD is always our top priority. Denton ISD has been in direct contact with the families of our students involved, and they seem confident in our solution.”
But for McCormick, the response doesn’t go far enough.
“I am not happy at all,” McCormick said.
He said he’d like to see the driver responsible fired and bus monitors added on all routes to prevent a possible tragedy.
“It very well could have gone the other direction and that has hit me like a ton of bricks. It hit me like a ton of bricks this morning. I closed my eyes this morning, and I saw my son in a casket, and it broke me down,” he said.
