Fremont County Bus Driver Put on Administrative Leave After Slapping Maskless Student

A bus driver is facing misdemeanor charges including harassment, assault causing injury, and child abuse for slapping a 10-year-old girl on a school bus – apparently because the girl did not have her mask on properly.

The incident was caught on video, but apparently, this was not enough to fire the driver, Bertram Jaquez, who has also admitted to striking the child in a written statement to the school district.

The Fremont County School District said Jaquez had been placed on administrative lead pending an investigation:

We believe it is never okay to lay a hand on a child. The District responded quickly to the situation by placing the driver on administrative leave so that we could fully investigate the incident. Local police were involved during the investigation as well as us being in contact with the child’s family. The driver’s action justified termination of employment, as it goes against District policy and our values. We are very saddened by this incident. Our goal every day is to transport students safely to school and back home, but that can only happen when everyone, including students and staff, follows the rules. We are currently working to identify next steps to help our drivers with strategies designed to support a safe ride to and from school.

The current state of public school is such that employees cannot physically restrain students from tearing apart classrooms, but apparently a student having a mask out of place on their face is the unforgivable offense.