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Parent tells school board her daughter was left off route, suspended from bus after memorial bear incident
Summary
A parent used public comment to allege a bus incident in which her daughter—she says—was singled out after defending a memorial bear; she said staff wrongly accused her daughter and suspended her from the bus for five days and that she has withdrawn her child from Red Wing Public Schools.
A parent in public comment told the Red Wing Public School District School Board that on Dec. 19 her daughter boarded a bus carrying a memorial bear containing a child’s ashes and was punched and provoked by another student, then disciplined.
The parent (identified in the transcript as a public commenter) said her daughter intervened to protect the memorial bear and that the bus driver and school staff responded by returning the daughter to school, placing her in the office and later suspending her from the bus for five days. "They knowingly falsely told me that my daughter had hit the other child," the commenter said, and added that staff later revised that claim in an email, saying the child had only pulled a jacket but that the suspension remained.
The parent said school staff did not call her immediately and that the delay caused "sheer panic" because she did not know where her 9‑year‑old child was after the bus left. She said the district did not notify her in a timely way and that staff members had discussed what to tell her before contacting her. The commenter said she eventually removed her child from Red Wing Public Schools because of the incident but noted she still has other children enrolled and will continue attending board meetings. She also said she has filed reports with the U.S. Office for Civil Rights and the Minnesota Department of Human Rights.
Board chair and staff followed the district’s public-comment guidelines during the meeting; the transcript includes a later offer of a follow-up to the commenter from a board member. The board did not make a public response during the meeting beyond an offered follow-up; the superintendent or board chair, the transcript says, will provide a written response to public commenters at a later date as appropriate.
The board’s public‑comment rules read aloud before the commenter’s remarks said school board members will listen but will not discuss the topic during the meeting and that the superintendent or board chair will provide a response later if appropriate.
No formal board action on the incident was recorded in the meeting minutes or the transcript excerpt provided. The parent’s remarks included requests for a written public response and said she would return to the next meeting.
