PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — A state lawmaker is pushing for transparency for the parents of children with special needs in schools, and sat down with the ABC Action News I-Team after their recent investigation revealed a Pasco County mother's push for answers.
WATCH: 'I want an answer': Lawmaker pushes for transparency for parents of children with special needs
Gretchen Stewart is fighting to see video of what happened to her 19-year-old son, Ian, a student with Down syndrome and autism. School officials and a Pasco Sheriff's Office deputy have seen the video that reportedly shows a bus assistant slapping her son. But Stewart was repeatedly told she could not see it. Not until the attorney she then hired told the I-Team, she signed an agreement that would limit her rights.
"It makes me ask a lot of questions, and the district's continued denial in letting me see what happened to my child makes all of those questions more intense," Stewart told the I-Team.
Among the people outraged is Republican State Lawmaker Chase Tramont, of Port Orange, who wants to take action to make sure parents like Stewart get the answers he says they deserve.
“At the end of the day, I'm always going to side with the parents and their right to find out what happened to their child," Tramont said.
Tramont said there are two questions every parent asks their child when they pick them up from school.
"How was your day? What happened at school today?” Tramont said. "Now, when you have a parent of a nonverbal child, it takes a long time for a parent to accept that reality, that they may never get an answer to that question.”
Two of Tramont's children have special needs and are nonverbal, like Stewart's son.
“You're talking about the most vulnerable community out there," Tramont said.
The I-Team's investigation exposed Stewart's fight to be able to see video of what happened to her son on a Pasco County school bus. Records show the bus driver notified school officials about an incident involving the bus assistant. After school officials watched video from a camera on the bus, they called the sheriff's office. A deputy also watched the video.
But when Stewart asked to see it, “They told me flat out, no, you can't see the video," she told the I-Team.
The school district told Stewart the video "has been made a part of our risk management file in the anticipation of litigation, and is thereby not subject to public disclosure."
Pasco County Schools then pointed to a state statute related to school security as another reason to deny her the video.
Then, she received an email she obtained through a public records request, describing what happened.
"'We pulled the video, and we saw Ian attempting to kiss the bus aide on the hand,' which made total sense to me, because he is very affectionate," Stewart said.
When her son went to do that, the bus assistant "open hand slapped him in the face and called him... a very ugly string of cuss words," Stewart said, after reading the description in the email.
Public records the I-Team obtained show the bus assistant resigned four days after the incident with Ian. The reason listed — retirement.
In the documents provided, the I-Team found in 2022, the bus assistant, then a bus driver, had "allegations of falling asleep while transporting students". An Employee Conference Summary noted that "the video recording system supports this". That is when the employee was moved to the bus assistant position.
In January 2025, another summary noted additional safety concerns.
"While watching video of your run, we observed you standing up, as well as walking up and down the aisle, all while the bus is in motion," the report stated. "It poses a huge safety risk for yourself, the driver and the students on board."
In February 2025, a letter described an incident where the same bus assistant put his hands on a different child. A manager wrote to the assistant, "The video shows the student hitting and pushing you and you returning the same actions to the student."
The bus assistant was asked to tell another employee what the protocol is for a student who is out of control or not listening to directions.
"You failed to tell her on every attempt," the letter said. "You stated you would feel better off on a different bus. You felt as if the students from this school were too much, and you preferred students that needed less attention. I told you that even if we moved you to another bus, we can't promise that a situation wouldn't arise that would have you in a similar situation."
The district offered the employee additional training at that time.
This was less than three months before the incident with Stewart's son, Ian.
Despite its own incident report, stating a bus assistant slapped a student in the face, the Pasco County deputy who responded to the incident "recommended the case be unfounded."
When she was denied an opportunity to watch the video, Stewart hired an attorney. Pasco County Schools then said they would allow Stewart to see the video if she signed a document limiting her rights to sue.
“When they make her lawyer up before they offer her a compromise, why did it get to that point? You know, what — why are you pushing back so hard on the parent? You know, she's simply trying to find out what happened to her son," Tramont told the I-Team. “It seems like they've gone out of their way to protect the institution versus protecting the child."
Tramont said, knowing that the footage exists, he would "move heaven and Earth to find out what happened to my kid" and said, "whatever I can do to help, I'll be there."
Earlier this year, on the House floor, Tramont pushed for a bill that would have put cameras in classrooms that have nonverbal children.
WATCH: Chase Tramont on the house floor
“Two months ago, a teacher who my wife and I trusted with our nonverbal son for three years, and my and my daughter, Kennedy, who doesn't answer questions, she repeats the questions out of after you. 'How was your day today?' 'How was your day today?' 'I love you.' 'I love you.' We trusted, a year and a half, this teacher who was just recently arrested for soliciting a 14-year-old boy online for sex. This guy who's been changing my son's diapers for three years and taking my daughter to the potty for a year and a half. I have to accept his word about what, or if anything, happened. Members, we must do better. The unconfirmed response and unverified word from a teacher is not enough and should not be acceptable any longer. I want to know what happened to my child at the end of the day. I don't want a response. I want an answer."
But Tramont says he isn't giving up.
When asked if he would look into sponsoring legislation that would increase transparency for parents with kids on school buses, he said, "Oh yeah, of course. I would have no issue adding any language to the current bill.”
The state rep said privacy could be protected while still giving parents the answers that they deserve.
“We should be going well above and beyond in protecting that community. And the parents who are caretakers for them," Tramont said. "There's already enough stress in those parents’ lives and those families lives, and if we're not tailoring our laws to protect them even further, then we're part of the problem, not the solution.”
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