OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — The father of a Shawnee Mission South student with autism has filed a federal lawsuit claiming his daughter was sexually assaulted on a school bus.
The lawsuit, which names First Student as the defendant, claims the school district’s former transportation company was negligent in failing to have an adult monitoring the students during the April 2016 incident.
According to court documents, an adult monitor helped students get on the bus that afternoon but left before it departed the school.
When the monitor left the bus, another student sat next to the girl and “continually molested her” for about 20 minutes.
Court documents say the incident occurred near the front of the bus, two rows behind the bus driver.
The lawsuit moved from Johnson County District Court to federal court on April 13.
First Student’s contract with the Shawnee Mission School District ended in 2017 when the board of education approved the hiring of DS Bus Lines as the district’s new transportation provider. The school district previously cited concerns about First Student’s reliability and safety training.
41 Action News reached out to First Student for comment and has not yet heard back.
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