Video After The Jump
(Des Moines Register) A Johnston school bus driver has been arrested on charges of assaulting a special needs student on his bus Thursday afternoon in front of other children, who posted video of the incident on social media.
Robert Alan Scarbrough, 61, of West Des Moines stopped the bus after a 15-year-old special needs student failed to follow instructions about assigned seats, according to an investigation by Johnston Police.
When the student uttered an inflammatory comment at Scarbrough, the bus driver pulled the student out of his seat. A brief struggle ensued, and the bus driver hit the student in the head and pushed him down onto the floor of the bus, police said in a statement.
A video of the incident posted on social media shows several children screaming at the bus driver, who yells profanity.
After pushing down the student, Scarbrough returned to the driver's seat and drove to the next stop, where several students ran off of the bus at about 12:15 p.m. in the 3600 block of Southeast Glenstone Drive in Grimes. They told a Polk County Sheriff's deputy that their bus driver had assaulted the student.
Johnston Police were then called to the scene.
Scarbrough is being held at Polk County Jail on charges of assault causing injury and child endangerment, with a $1,000 bond for each charge.
Fourteen-year-old student Elvedina Velagic, who said she was on the bus during the incident, said Scarbrough has yelled at students on the bus before, though she does not know any students who have reported it.
"He yells at us all the time. ... We were kind of used to the yelling," Velagic said.
Johnston Police Lt. Lynn Aswegan said he was not aware of any criminal reports related to Scarbrough's behavior on the school bus before Thursday. A school district spokesperson could not be reached Thursday evening to confirm whether prior complaints had been made to the school.
A search of online Iowa court records revealed no criminal history for Scarbrough.
Velagic said Scarbrough's actions Thursday happened after the special needs student almost missed the bus, then didn't follow Scarbrough's directions on where to sit and told the bus driver to "shut up."
Many students were scared when Scarbrough stopped the bus and began yelling at the special needs student, who Velagic described as "someone who is always very nice to everyone."
Several students yelled at Scarbrough to stop as he pushed the special needs student, Velagic said.
"He started yelling profanities at us," she said.
Almost every student exited the bus at the Grimes stop, where they found the sheriff's deputy, "because we were afraid of being on the bus with (Scarbrough)," Velagic said.
School district spokeswoman Laura Sprague confirmed that Scarbrough was put on administrative leave as the school district works with police to review the incident.
The school district later released a statement calling Scarbrough's actions "a series of poor choices regarding how to handle the student’s behavior."
Sprague said the school district is grateful the student was not seriously injured. District officials are offering counseling to students on the bus at Johnston Middle School starting Friday, and officials will take parents' questions at the district office, Sprague said.
School board members either could not be reached for comment or declined to comment on Scarbrough's actions Thursday.
Before the incident Thursday, the Johnston school district had already been considering privatizing its school bus service through a third-party contractor.
Johnston spent approximately $3.1 million transporting students during the 2015 fiscal year, an increase of about $600,000 from four years earlier.
The school district operates a fleet of 75 buses and employs about 60 drivers.
The district will request proposals from private busing companies to see how much money it could save before making a decision.
The student received medical attention in an ambulance on scene but did not need to be transported to a hospital for medical attention, according to a Johnston Community School District statement. The student was with his parents when he left the scene, police said.
Written by Charly Haley, chaley@dmreg.com
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