Mom says bus driver kicked off students — including a 5-year-old — because of their race

Hope Schreiber
·Writer
Green Mountain Transit has launched an internal investigation after it was reported a bus forced students of color off a bus on their way home. (Photo: NBC5)
Green Mountain Transit has launched an internal investigation after it was reported a bus forced students of color off a bus. (Photo: NBC5)

The public transportation system based in Burlington, Vt. has come under the scrutiny of parents after one mother claimed a driver forced students of color on their way home from school off of a bus. The Green Mountain Transit has since launched an investigation regarding the incident.

"These children just experienced something that was scary, sad, and confusing and unjust," Rebecca Mack, a parent of two of the students reportedly told to exit bus 914, told NBC5.

She believes that the bus driver, transporting Edmunds Elementary and Edmunds Middle School students, had targeted students based on the color of their skin.

According to Mack, at least 17 students were ejected from the bus by the driver, with the youngest student being only 5 years old. Mack claims that all of the students involved were students of color who were clapping their hands and singing along to a song in the back of the bus before the driver ejected them.

"It is very disheartening. That's not what they should experience," Mack told the station.

Mack has since filed a formal complaint with Green Mountain Transit following the incident.

The Burlington School District's Diversity Equity and Inclusion Committee opened their meeting Tuesday with a public forum discussing the incident, which GMT board chair Tom Chittenden attended.

Chittenden said at the meeting that "no child should be thrown off a bus anywhere in Vermont."

GMT is currently investigating the incident; until then, Mack informed NBC 5 that the driver has been placed on a different route.

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