DAYTON — Several parents have said a Dayton Public Schools bus driver appeared to fondle himself while taking their children to elementary school.
The parents said their children were exposed to unacceptable behavior.
“It’s been happening for the past three days,” Gloria Nichols said of the troubling behavior her fourth-grade daughter described to her.
She said the bus driver had his lap covered by a towel and had his hands in his pants, and that when he stood up his pants fell down with his underwear showing.
Nichols said she questioned her daughter, who insisted the bus driver’s hands were not in his pockets but in his pants.
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Other children riding the same bus also saw “the bus driver doing inappropriate things, not to them, but to himself, in front of them,” said another mother who did not want to be identified.
She wants the so-far unidentified driver to be fired.
“It’s just plain and simple. He needs not to work around children, be around children,” she said.
DPS Superintendent Elizabeth Lolli released a statement Friday evening regarding the accusations:
"As soon as the Dayton Public Schools received allegations about conduct by a school bus driver, the driver was put on leave. The district will take appropriate action once the investigation is complete. Student safety and security is first and foremost in the Dayton Public Schools and in every situation."
Parents said a substitute driver, a woman, was behind the wheel on Friday, but that they want more information.
“I want answers. I don’t want other kids at risk. He was asking inappropriate questions, ‘How do you know your mom’s home?, How many siblings do you have?’” Nichols said.
While DPS is investigating the incident, parents said they want to hear that this person is no longer employed by DPS; they feel he overstepped the boundaries of decency.
