‘Kids scared to death’: Video will show parents what happened on Rock Hill school bus

Parents in Rock Hill school district will see the bus ride video after all.

Some of the parents, whose children were riding a Rock Hill school bus they say left their children traumatized and injured, received calls Friday as Independence Elementary School let out. School leaders told those parents, starting Monday, they could individually come to review video from the incident.

Parents say the bus, bringing home students from Independence, was traveling erratically Tuesday to the point where students were injured, and left the bus in tears and fearful.

School district spokesperson Mychal Frost said Wednesday that allegations made by parents “are not entirely correct” and that video confirms it, but also the district didn’t intend to release that video to parents.

“We are and have looked into it, and have spoken to several parents who have expressed concern,” Frost said Wednesday. “We have addressed those concerns and feel that the issue has been resolved.”

Until mid-afternoon Friday parents hadn’t heard anything different from the district, they say.

At the school bus stop Friday, parents said they will have to see something extraordinary on the video to settle them after they witnessed children crying as they exited the bus on the second day of school. Several parents say children were injured by a sudden stop the bus made or at other points on the route.

The Herald filed a Freedom of Information request Aug. 24 to obtain a copy of the video. That request is pending.

Michelle Kluttz said she took her sons, ages 6 and 9, to the emergency room. Her kindergartner injured his mouth and both boys had whiplash and bruises on their necks, she said.

“His bottom tooth went through his lip,” Kluttz said.

Kluttz said her older son told her he went to comfort his brother on the ride.

“They are terrified to get on the bus,” Kluttz said. “They’re having nightmares at night.”

Emilie George said her son and daughter were injured.

“My son’s knees were hurting him from where he had to keep them jammed to the seat in front of him to keep from flying out of his seat,” she said. “And my daughter’s thumb was hurt.”

Jacob Cherry, 10, said an adult on the bus made a fist but didn’t hit him, then pushed his sister into her seat. May Cherry, their mother, said her children walked from an earlier stop on the route.

“I didn’t know where my kids were,” May Cherry said. “I didn’t know if my kids were safe or not.”

Kluttz said she has retained an attorney and may seek legal action against the district. Several parents say they also will consider that.

Even as some parents received calls Friday about coming to view the video, many said they were upset, after being told by their children or school leaders, that school officials spoke to children about the incident without parents present or parental permission.

As of the time the bus dropped students off beside a playground on the Catawba Indian Reservation on Friday, several parents said they hadn’t received the call telling them they could watch the video. Parents had been in contact with the district since Tuesday asking to see it.

Kluttz said she doesn’t understand why the district wouldn’t let parents watch the video.

“I said if there’s nothing on the tape, then why won’t you let us see it?” she said.

While some parents say they saw the bus moving erratically on Tuesday and many say they saw distraught children getting off the bus, the parents’ version of what happened comes almost entirely from their children.

Parents say consistent accounts of the bus ride from their children, who got off at different stops, lend credibility to what the children said. Kluttz said there were children getting off at her sons’ stop who normally wouldn’t.

Some of the parents didn’t know each other prior to reaching out online, where they found their children were giving similar stories, the parents said.

“We have a group of parents down here, and we’re all furious,” she said. “We had kids scared to death.”

Parents say they want answers from the district on who the bus driver is and what happened to make the children distraught.

“I’m going to fight for my kids until the end for this one,” Kluttz said. “Kids should feel safe on the bus and at school.”

This story was originally published August 25, 2018 at 11:47 AM.