Mother wants answers after daughter attacked on school bus

HOKE COUNTY, N.C. -- A North Carolina mother is asking the school system for answers after she says her daughter was attacked on the school bus and the bus driver didn't do anything to stop it.

Sharonda Ferguson said she met with the school principal of East Hoke Middle School Monday to watch video of the fight that was captured on a bus camera.

Ferguson said the video shows her daughter sitting in the front seat when a male student walks up to her and starts swinging.

She said the driver pulled over on the side of the road but stayed in her seat, never getting up to try stopping the fight. Ferguson said the principal told her that was standard policy for school bus drivers.

Within minutes, a school resource officer arrived and the girl was allowed off the bus where Ferguson was waiting to take her home.

A spokesperson for Hoke County Schools told ABC11 that the sheriff's office is now investigating.

Part of the safety policy listed on the school system's website reads, "employees who see an altercation between students should use their professional judgment and decide how best to protect the safety of everyone nearby."

"I'm pretty sure every parent feels like OK, I'm putting my child on this bus, that they're going to be safe," said Ferguson. "But if that's policy, policy's saying they're not safe."

Ferguson said in this case, the bus driver didn't do enough and she's now hiring a lawyer to press charges against the other student involved.

"Me, as a mother, I couldn't have just sat there, even if it was policy, and watch this boy beat on my child," said Ferguson. "I couldn't do it."