A Mossyrock school bus driver is accused of standing on a disabled 7-year-old boy to keep him from moving around the bus. And the boy's mother wants the driver to be charged with assault.
Gage Hagedorn is a typical energetic second-grader, but he needs a little help getting around. He was born with serious medical complications that force him to rely on crutches to get around.
His mother admits the boy was getting a little rambunctious on the day of the incident. There was a dispute between the boy and other kids on the bus, and surveillance footage captured the boy crawling under a seat.
Susan Hagedorn says that's when the bus driver stepped on Gage Hagedorn to stop him from going any further.
"She put one foot on him and held him to the floor. And it did not happen once, but twice," the mother said. "The first time it happened, Gage did not cry. The second time it happened, it was very loud and clear that he was crying from the bus driver standing on him to hold him down."
Susan Hagedorn was shown the video footage by the school district. KOMO News' request for a copy of the footage was denied by Mossyrock School District Superintendent Karen Ernest, who also refused to comment.
But Susan Hagedorn was told by the district's transportation director that the bus driver has been placed on paid administrative leave. That's not enough to ease the concerns of the boy's mother.
"I would like the bus driver charged with assault, and I would like to see her not driver a school bus for children," she said. "It broke my heart to know that a school official who's there to serve and protect our children had the audacity to stand on my son to hold him to the floor."
The Lewis County sheriff's Office is investigating.
Susan Hagedorn kept her son home from school on Friday. She said she plans to drive him to school herself every day next week until she learns more about how the district plans to handle the incident.
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