SAN ANTONIO -- A bus driver and parents call police on each other, and the chaos that ensued is caught on camera.
The kids go to Hartman Elementary in the Judson school district.
Parents say they’ve had problems with the bus route all year. They complain their kids get dropped off at a different stop every day.
It all came to a head Tuesday afternoon.
The cameras inside the bus rolled for 45 minutes as the driver put the bus on lockdown and parents forced open the doors to get their kids.
“Judson Police are called,” the driver is heard telling the students.
“We weren’t doing anything,” one child answered.
“You were standing up,” the driver said. “I told you to sit down.”
The Judson school district says the corner in question is not a bus stop. But parents say it is, and they tried to flag the bus down there.
“I have a lady out here that I don’t have to talk to,” the driver told the kids.
The substitute driver said he felt threatened and called police.
“There was a woman who was threatening him with physical harm with a baseball bat, and had done so the day before,” Judson ISD spokeswoman Aubrey Chancellor said.
Judson policy states if a bus driver calls police, the vehicle goes on lockdown: everyone stays put inside the bus.
“Roll up the windows,” the driver tells the students. “I’ve got the AC running.”
“At no point on the tape does the bus driver lose control,” Chancellor says.
But parents say their kids were terrified.
"As I started walking around the bus, the kids rolled down the windows and said, 'Help us, help us. He's being mean and threatening us,’” Jessica Sauceda said. Her child was on the bus.
“I came to the window,” father Ramon Yanez said. “He told me he wasn’t releasing kids out.”
Several parents called police and demanded the driver open the doors.
Judson ISD says that’s when the kids became emotional, too.
“Open the dang door,” one child said.
“I want my mommy and daddy,” another child said.
The tape shows parents taking matters into their own hands.
"It's clear that they pry open not only the front door but also the back emergency exit. They're physically removing kids from the bus,” Chancellor said.
Judson ISD says that’s against the law. Texas law states it’s a Class C Misdemeanor for impending public transportation when unauthorized adults enter a school bus.
Parents defend their actions.
"If you hear a child yelling, 'Help us,' you're going to stop and help and do whatever is needed," Sauceda said.
Parents say their kids are now scared to take the bus.
Judson ISD says the driver did nothing wrong but he will be assigned to a different route and receive additional training.
