Hazelwood, Missouri
(KMOV)-- Detectives are waiting to get their hands on a bus surveillance tape after a beating.
The Hazelwood school district calls the beating “completely unacceptable” and has suspended the student. But the district won’t give up the surveillance tape without a court order.
The school allowed the victim's mother to watch the video only after parents of both students signed waivers.
The victim's mother said she can't wait for police to have the video too. Crystal Gwaltney watched what happened to her daughter near the end of Friday’s bus trip home. Her daughter got off the bus swollen and sore. Crystal called police.
Hazelwood police said, in the past, the district allowed officers to watch video to determine if a crime was committed. This time, police were told to get a subpoena.
A spokesperson for the Hazelwood school district said it is because of new federal guidelines that say school bus video is an educational record. Its lawyers told the district it could lose funding by releasing it without a court order.
Crystal said the driver stopped the bus and told the boy to get off. But another issue came up. The boy was never supposed to be on that bus to begin with. Students wear ID's with their picture and bus number displayed. The district said it’s investigating why that student was able to ride.
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