Students Who Bullied Bus Monitor Karen Klein Suspended
June 29, 2012— -- The four middle school students who were videotaped tormenting their adult school bus monitor learned today what their punishment will be.
The Greece, N.Y. Central School District said in a statement that all four boys will be suspended from school for one year. They are also barred from "school and regular bus transportation."
The video showed the teens lobbing vicious insults and threats at 68-year-old Karen Klein, at one point bringing her to tears. The video went viral, viewed more than two million times. The outrage and the response was were just as great.
An online appeal for funds for Klein pulled in more than ten times the targeted amount. The Canadian man who started the appeal said he was hoping to raise $5,000. The fund quickly rose to more than $650,000.
Klein has also been offered a trip to Disney World by ABC's parent company, Disney. Southwest Airlines has offered to pay for the flight.
The families of all four boys waived their right to a hearing and agreed to the one-year suspensions. During that year, the boys will be educated at the district's Reengagement Center, described as an "alternative education program [that] keeps middle school students on track academically while providing a structured opportunity for students to take responsibility for their actions."
Each of the seventh graders will be required to complete 50 hours of community service with senior citizens and will be enrolled in a bullying-prevention program.
The school district statement says all the boys, "admitted to wrongdoing [and] accepted the recommended consequences."
In the days after the video went viral, two of the boys, identified only by their first names, came forward to apologize.
Josh wrote, "I am so sorry for the way I treated you," Josh wrote. "When I saw the video I was disgusted and could not believe I did that. I am sorry for being so mean."
