Two staff members of a school bus company contracted with the Methuen, Massachusetts, school district were arrested and charged earlier this week, amid allegations of "physical and verbal conduct" toward a student, according to a letter from the district's superintendent.
The letter, dated Wednesday, said that an investigation was prompted by a concerned parent who noticed a "change in behavior of their child," Methuen Public Schools Superintendent Brandi Kwong said.
Kwong wrote that the district took action after the investigation revealed the alleged conduct onboard a school transit vehicle by the two contractors. The district contacts with an outside vendor to provide Methuen residents transportation to schools outside of the city.
Methuen police confirmed they were contacted by the school district on Friday, Sept. 29, about the parents' inquiry, and that a school department investigation found that a bus monitor had "physical contact" with the child, and that the bus driver failed to intervene or report the matter.
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"I would like to thank Methuen Public Schools for immediately bringing this incident to our attention upon learning about it," Chief Scott McNamara said in a statement. "It was the school department's prompt and thorough response to a parent's concerns that prompted this investigation."
Police identified the two women who were arrested as 56-year-old Nancy Vasquez and 38-year-old Marlene Cruz, both of Lawrence. Vasquez, the bus monitor, was charged with assault and battery on a disabled person, while Cruz, the bus driver, was charged with permitting abuse of a disabled person.
The investigation was prompted by the boy's father who says he noticed his son started getting scared and flinching as he was about to board the school bus, so he asked for the bus surveillance to be pulled.
"Something happened on this bus. He can’t tell me. But something happened. He’s not like this," Anthony Amero Sr. said in an interview with NBC10 Boston. "It's horrible. It's just horrible."
The father of 10-year-old Anthony said his son, who has autism and is nonverbal, was possibly abused by his bus driver and bus monitor for quite some time.
“I seen the short clip of him flinching and leaning away from the monitor," he said. "Basically they told me it did not take long to see what was going on...Pretty much right after he left the driveway it started."
According to court paperwork, Vasquez was seen on camera hitting the child, slapping his arm several times, then grabbing his right wrist and twisting it.
"Hitting him in the head, they were like pulling on his fingers, squeezing his fingers, pinching him, speaking derogatory towards him," Amero Sr. said.
Officials say the bus driver did nothing to stop the bus monitor's actions, and now both are facing assault charges.
"I hope they both serve jail time, a lot of it," Amero Sr. said. “It’s very possible that it started months ago. He didn't deserve that."
"Nobody checks the cameras unless there's a report and he couldn't say anything about it, and they knew it," he added.
The bus company contracted by the district released a statement, saying, "We have no tolerance for this alleged behavior and both employees have been terminated."
The spokesperson for NRT Bus Group also said they are fully cooperating with local authorities as this matter is investigated.
Methuen schools has been in contact with the family of the student, police department, bus company and the Department of Children and Families. They also sent a letter home to parents urging them to speak with their children about the importance of reporting suspicious activity.
The district said that steps were taken to prevent the two workers from interacting with other students, and their alleged conduct is not believed to have been directed at any other students.
Specifics of the "serious incident" that happened onboard the school transit vehicle were not revealed by officials. Police only said the women were arrested in connection with the "physical abuse of a 10-year-old child on the bus contracted with Methuen Public Schools."
Vasquez and Cruz were arrested and arraigned Tuesday in Lawrence District Court. Vasquez was ordered held without bail pending a dangerousness hearing on Friday, Oct. 6.
Cruz was released on personal recognizance and ordered to have no contact the victim or their family, the victim's school, Vasquez or the bus company. She is also prohibited from working with children. She is due back in court on Nov. 3 for a pre-trial conference.
