Parents demand bus driver's dismissal after children were banned from opening windows on hot day

SEALY, Texas (KHOU) – Some parents in Texas are calling for the firing and prosecution of a school bus driver after he allegedly prohibited children on the bus from opening their windows on a hot day.

Coshenna Smith said she was standing up for her children and all the other children on the bus that day.

“Getting calls from my kids saying they can’t breathe and can’t come home is a problem for me,” she said.

Smith said her children were on the bus home from Sealy Junior High on August 22.

She said her 12-year-old son, Bryce, asked to sit next to his sister in the front of the bus, but the driver accused him of disrupting the ride home.

“He questioned it in a nice way. He asked why, and she said, 'No, go back to the back of the bus,'” Smith said. “'Why are the windows rolled up? Why can't the windows be rolled down?' I don't have an answer yet.”

A cellphone video shared by Smith shows some of the back and forth between the driver and the students.

During the video, the bus driver appears to tell students to keep their hands on the bus.

After 31 minutes, Smith said, her children came home. She said her daughter, who suffers from chronic asthma, appeared to be out of breath.

Smith said her son was sweating so much that he took off his shirt.

The Sealy mother and activist Candace Matthews have several demands for the district.

“We want charges filed and my mother has contacted the Sealy ISD Police Department. She will be taking the final steps to file child endangerment charges,” Matthews said.

According to Smith, Sealy ISD removed the driver from the route after receiving complaints from several parents. However, that driver is still driving for the district.

Sealy Superintendent Bryan Hallmark issued a statement in response to the incident.

“We take these concerns very seriously,” the statement said. “While investigating these reports last Thursday, a driver asked a student who was sticking his head out the window to roll up his window. The driver stopped the bus for approximately two minutes and 20 seconds to address the student. During the trip, the roof hatches and windows were open… buses can get hot inside, especially in August.”

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