PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — "This is not the first time."
Those are the words of a Pasco County Schools employee, speaking to a deputy who responded to a report of child abuse. In May, a bus assistant slapped a 19-year-old student with Down syndrome and autism across the face.
Last month, the Tampa Bay 28 I-Team reported that his mother, Gretchen Stewart, is still fighting to see the video of what happened to her son.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 'I want to see the video': Pasco County mom wants answers after school employee slaps son with special needs
"It makes me ask a lot of questions, and the district's continued denial in letting me see what happened to my child makes all of those questions more intense," Stewart said.
The I-Team is following through on the push for answers and sharing body camera video recently obtained from the Pasco Sheriff's Office, revealing more insight into the now former bus assistant's history and concerns of safety with other children.
In the video, a Pasco County Schools employee said she'd "love" to see the bus assistant, who slapped Stewart's son, Ian, arrested.
“This is not the first time," she said.
Not the first time the bus assistant put his hands on a student, which the I-Team originally discovered through a public records request.
The I-Team requested the bus assistant's personnel file and found his resignation letter was dated four days after the incident with Ian. The reason listed — retirement.
A letter obtained from the district described an incident where the same bus assistant put his hands on a different child. A manager wrote to the bus assistant, "The video shows the student hitting and pushing you and you returning the same actions to the student."
The bus assistant was asked to tell another employee what the protocol is for a student who is out of control or not listening to directions.
"You failed to tell her on every attempt," the letter said. "You stated you would feel better off on a different bus. You felt as if the students from this school were too much, and you preferred students that needed less attention. I told you that even if we moved you to another bus, we can't promise that a situation wouldn't arise that would have you in a similar situation."
The district offered the employee additional training at that time.
This was less than three months before the incident with Ian.
In watching the body camera footage, the I-Team found out there's more.
"Since January, we’ve had two other incidents with him. Where he put his hands on kids," the Pasco County Schools employee said in the body camera video.
Two other incidents. Not one.
The I-Team followed up with Pasco County Schools to confirm. The district would not agree to an interview, but in a statement, said, "Pasco County Schools was not aware of the additional, alleged concerns cited in your email regarding the former employee. Our team is in the process of reviewing additional information shared in your email so we can fully investigate any and all alleged claims referenced in the body camera interaction."
The employee in the body camera video then told the deputy her thoughts on the bus assistant's actions and how Pasco County Schools has responded.
Pasco County Schools Employee: "...eats me to my core because you don’t ever put your hands on a kid. Ever ever. Ever ever. We’ve written him up, we’ve done everything, it’s — “
Pasco Sheriff's Deputy: “So the school stuff is between you and him. The criminal side of it — in the video, it looks like he tries to bite at him and he just kind of — it’s kind of hard to tell because of the frame rate, it kind of looks like he’s like back up, but he’s kind of like, don’t bite me kind of deal.”
Pasco County Schools Employee: "Right."
Pasco Sheriff's Deputy: “So is it really a battery? Kind of hard to say because he’s reacting to — defending himself.”
Pasco County Schools Employee: “And so *audio cuts out* … and says kiss, and then he was going to kiss his hand. The part that bothers me is the fact that when [bus assistant] then pushed him the way that he pushed him back hardly, then called him a son of a —it’s like, really? It’s the whole thing. All paired up together, with past experiences that I’ve had with elementary school children.”
Then, the I-Team learned the investigation of a prior incident went beyond the school district.
“I know his last case, CPI did pick up, he actually got into a physical altercation with a child on the bus," the Pasco County Schools employee said in the body camera video.
CPI is a child protective investigator.
"He called me like two weeks ago, he said CPI showed up at my house, they said they were looking for me because they needed to question me. I said ok, you better talk to ‘em. He said, but you guys said you already cleared me. I said no, no, there’s a difference. There’s a difference between us telling you you got a smack on your hand, whatever, and them doing theirs. Completely different," the schools employee told the deputy.
The I-Team asked the school district why it was a so-called smack on the hand, and the bus assistant was allowed to continue working with children, leading up to the incident with Ian.
The school district said, "We use thorough pre-employment background screenings for all staff and take swift, decisive action if an employee engages in unacceptable behavior. We remain committed to doing everything possible to protect our students."
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The interview with the bus assistant was among the body camera videos exempt from public record, the Pasco Sheriff's Office told the I-Team, citing state statute. The video was blacked out because it was conducted in a private office.
Through the incident report, the I-Team was able to find out that the bus assistant, "initially could not determine what incident" the responding deputy was referring to. Then, once that deputy "showed him the video, he remembered."
The bus assistant stated, after telling Ian to sit down, "He tried to bite me, so I pushed him off."
Speaking about the bus assistant, the school employee told the deputy, “I’m done with him as of — whatever you guys have to do with it at this point, that’s on you guys.”
The deputy responded, “However you guys handle it between you and him, that’s it.”
Despite its own incident report, stating a bus assistant slapped a student in the face, the deputy "recommended this case be unfounded."
The Pasco Sheriff's Office told the I-Team, "... there was no criminal intent."
Full Statement from Pasco County Schools:
Pasco County Schools takes all concerns related to student safety very seriously. While we cannot share details because this matter involves confidential student information, we can confirm that our response to the related public records request was complete. Pasco County Schools was not aware of the additional, alleged concerns cited in your email regarding the former employee. Our team is in the process of reviewing additional information shared in your email so we can fully investigate any and all alleged claims referenced in the body camera interaction. We use thorough pre-employment background screenings for all staff and take swift, decisive action if an employee engages in unacceptable behavior. We remain committed to doing everything possible to protect our students.
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