On Wednesday, Jennifer Brownrigg said her son was verbally abused by a bus aide in front of his classmates and an employee of his after school daycare.
Brownrigg said she got a call from her son’s daycare about what happened as she was driving to pick Ethan up. The daycare employee corroborated Brownrigg’s story to ABC Action News. Over the phone the worker told us that she even told the bus aide, that the way she was talking to Ethan was unacceptable.
“As a mom, as someone who thinks it is not OK to treat my child this way, I would like for her to lose her job,” Brownrigg said. “There is no way that she should be dealing with children, telling children that she is going to physically harm them, threatening them with physical harm.”
Brownrigg said the bus aide called her son a brat, idiot, and threatened to kick his ass if he didn’t listen to her.
“He's got enough stacked against him right now he doesn't need anyone bullying him especially an adult,” Brownrigg said.
Ethan is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome and Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
A spokesperson with Pasco County School District told ABC Action News that they are taking the allegations against the Connerton Elementary School bus aid very seriously. A formal investigation is being launched and the bus aide was removed from Ethan’s route.
Brownrigg said she asked for the bus aide to be removed from her son’s bus immediately following the incident. On Monday, Brownrigg said the bus aide was still on her son’s bus. After we called the district to ask about the allegations against the driver, we learned the bus aide was removed. Brownrigg said the district should’ve acted sooner.
“Don't sit there and tell a parent that you are going to do something about it, district will do something about it, and have no intentions other than writing something down and putting it in a file and hoping it never has to come out again,” Brownrigg said.
School officials told ABC Action News if Brownrigg’s initial complaint to them mentioned any physical abuse, the bus aide would’ve been pulled immediately. The supervisor tells us the only information they were given was that the bus aide verbally threatened the second grader.
“I don't ever want another mother to have to go through this it's not fair it's not right and my child deserves more,” Brownrigg said.
