‘Just horrible’: Mother says daughter with special needs was assaulted by school bus aide
By Quanecia Fraser
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OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — An Omaha mother says her child with special needs came home with a red mark on her face. She says her daughter was assaulted by a school bus aide, who is now no longer with the district, according to Omaha Public Schools.
“This is just horrible,” Tyresa Colwell told KETV Investigates.”In the picture, you can see a handprint, and you can see a welt mark of like, in between the fingers on her face.”
Colwell says she got in touch with the OPS transportation specialist.
“I guess I was more hopeful that maybe it was something that didn’t happen from somebody, so that’s why I was waiting for them to see the tapes,” Colwell said.
But that hope went away.
“So basically, (the transportation specialist) said that she sees him leaning over the seat doing something to her in an aggressive manner, but they can’t see exactly what he’s doing because his back is faced towards the camera, but it was enough for them to know it wasn’t right so then they put him on suspension,” Colwell said.
According to a police report, Colwell was told the bus driver got off the bus to use the restroom and a teacher went back to her classroom, leaving 8-year-old Lyric alone with the bus aide.
“She’s in a harness so she can’t even defend herself even if she tried, and she can’t tell me what happening because she’s nonverbal,” Colwell said.
In an e-mail, OPS said the bus aide is no longer employed with the district.
“Nothing is more important to us than the safety and well-being of the young people we serve. We care deeply about the students in our care,” the district said in a statement.
“How many other times, or (what other) kids could he have done this to that can’t speak for themselves?” Colwell wonders.
OPS told KETV Investigates bus drivers and aides are trained on how to interact with children with special needs.
Colwell said she was told she’ll have to view the video in-person. She said she’s waiting for her lawyer to be present with her to do so.
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