Bus Taunt Students Suspended for One Year

The middle school students who mercilessly taunted a 68-year-old school bus monitor have been suspended from school and bus transportation for one year and must complete 50 hours of community service with senior citizens, the Democrat and Chronicle of Rochester, N.Y.,reported.

The verbal abuse of bus monitor Karen Klein by the seventh graders was captured in a 10-minute cellphone video recorded by a student of Athena Middle School in Greece, N.Y., and later posted to YouTube.

Karen Klein (AP Photo)

The video became an international online rallying point against bullies, with more than 30,000 people donating to a fund for the  grandmother and raising close to $667,000.

Since the June 18 incident, Klein has also appeared on national television news programs and been offered book and movie deals.

The video, posted online on June 20 shows Klein trying her best to ignore the stream of profanity, insults, and outright threats directed at her. One student taunted: "You don't have a family because they all killed themselves because they don't want to be near you." Klein's oldest son committed suicide 10 years ago, according to CNN.

The school’s superintendent, Barbara Deane-Williams, said the four students and their families waived their right to a due process hearing and agreed to the disciplinary measures, the Democrat and Chronicle reported.

Deane-Williams said the students will attend an alternative school next year, and receive “formal instruction related to conduct and behavior that prepares them for a productive future.”