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Pre-K student allegedly spanked by Barry County Transit driver

Posted at 4:59 PM, May 19, 2016
and last updated 2016-05-19 18:06:41-04

HASTINGS, Mich. -- Megan Blake's three kids usually don't take the bus home from school, and they probably won't be any time soon.

"Monday afternoon, my kids got home off the bus, they walked through the door and the first thing they all said was that my youngest had been spanked by the bus driver," Blake tells FOX 17.

Blake tried to stop the bus driver to ask what happened, but the driver sped away.

When she contacted the transit company Blake was told, "You're going to have a very hard time convincing me anybody put their hands on your pretty little child."

Frustrated, Blake called Hastings City police who are investigating Monday's incident.

Chief Jeff Pratt explains, "The child says she was spanked. The bus driver says that she was not spanked. However, there was some form of physical contact between the two of them."

Police are still questioning students who were on Monday's bus ride. Once their investigation is complete it will be handed over to the Barry County Prosecutor.

Blake told FOX 17 that students within Hastings city limits use Barry County Public Transit buses instead of school buses to get home. She thinks that may be the problem.

Blake wants transit drivers to be trained for work with children and that drivers get a regular route so that they can learn about the kids they're driving. She says, "Put the same drivers on the same route at the same times. Then they can build those relationships that school bus drivers build with their children."