PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Video on a Pasco County School bus shows a bus assistant slapping a student with special needs across the face. That's according to documents obtained by the ABC Action News I-Team.
The school district has seen the video.
The sheriff's office has seen the video.
The student's mother has not.
WATCH: 'I want to see the video': Pasco County mom wants answers after school employee slaps son with special needs
This has led Stewart to bring her push for transparency public, in a fight to see what happened to her son.
“I answered the phone," Stewart said. “It was the assistant principal of his school telling me, 'Hey, I just want to let you know that there was a problem on the bus this morning.'"
The problem on May 1 involved Stewart's son, Ian, a 19-year-old Pasco County student with down syndrome and autism.
"I said, 'Okay, what was the problem?' And she said, 'Well, I don't have any details, and it's out of our purview. It's out of our control. The police have it.'” Stewart said. "She believed that an adult put — the way she said it, 'put their hands on Ian'."
WATCH: Q&A with Investigative reporter Kylie McGivern in studio
Stewart said she asked for more information.
"She wouldn't, couldn't, or didn't have it," Stewart said.
She was left to wait for a call from the Pasco Sheriff's Office.
“They said that they had seen a video," Stewart said.
The I-Team obtained a copy of the incident report from the sheriff's office. In it, a deputy confirmed "video surveillance was captured by Pasco School Transportation Staff of an ESE bus assistant open-hand slapping an intellectually disabled student in the face" while on a school bus enroute to school.
The deputy wrote that he was allowed to record the video with his agency-issued cell phone.
Stewart emailed the school district after learning of the incident and noted that her son, "is unable to fully and reliably communicate independently" and requested preservation of the video and a copy for her to view.
“I've always been Ian’s advocate, and sometimes his voice, right, because he can't communicate like you and I," Stewart said. "I'm never going to stop doing that. And I also know that there are other young people with communication barriers that can't say what happened to them.”
Stewart, who has spent her career working in special education, can communicate with her son. But she has struggled to get any answers from Pasco County Schools.
"They told me flat out, no, you can't see the video," Stewart said.
In an email, 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."
The district then pointed to a state statute related to school security as another reason to deny her the video.
Then, a few days later, Stewart told the I-Team, she received an email in response to her public records request, describing what happened.
"The email said the bus driver told us, we looked, we pulled the video, and we saw Ian attempting to kiss the bus aide on the hand," Gretchen said. "Which made total sense to me, because he is very affectionate.”
When her son moved toward the bus assistant, that assistant slapped him in the face, and according to an email from the school district, called him what Stewart described as "a very ugly string of cuss words."
"I want to see the video. And I kept being told, no, no, no, no. And my only recourse, I felt, was to seek legal help," Stewart said.
"What is the society that we're living in, that we are making the parent of a special needs student go out and get a lawyer before even engaging with them about what happened to their child?” Joshua Kushner, Stewart's lawyer, said.
Kushner is an attorney based in Fort Lauderdale. He is also the parent of a child with special needs.
"After she got an attorney, she was offered an opportunity to view the video," Kushner said. "Only with the condition that if she signs a document before being shown the video, that says she will not use this video for anything, at all, besides potentially a claim against the school board. And the only people who are going to see it would maybe be a judge and jury one day. Then they will show it to her."
Kushner told the I-Team, in his years of practice, he's "never encountered that".
When the I-Team asked Stewart what went through her mind when she was presented with that offer to view the video, she said, "Fear. Like this has to be really bad. For you to want me to agree to something that I haven't even seen."
The I-Team submitted a public records request for the bus assistant's personnel file and found his resignation letter, effective immediately, which was dated four days after the incident. 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 their protocol is for a student that is out of control or not listening to directions.
"You failed to tell her on every attempt," the letter said. "You stated you would fell 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.
Pasco County Schools would not agree to an interview or comment on the incidents.
In a statement, Pasco County Schools told the I-Team, "While we cannot comment on this specific situation due to FERPA, Pasco County Schools takes all allegations related to student safety very seriously. The safety of our students is our first priority, and we remain committed to providing safe transportation to and from school. Any report made by a student or parent is always fully investigated. Any allegation made related to a potential violation of the law or student safety, is immediately reported to law enforcement."
The I-Team also had questions for the Pasco Sheriff's Office, and why, despite its own incident report stating a bus assistant open-hand slapped a student in the face, the deputy "recommended this case be unfounded."
In an email, the sheriff's office said, "The juvenile attempted to bite the bus assistant, and as a reaction, the bus assistant protected himself. The juvenile did not sustain any injuries. As a result of the listed information, there was no criminal intent, and the case was unfounded."
In the deputy's report, it said the bus assistant told him, "He tried to bite me, so I pushed him off."
Stewart's attorney told the I-Team he "100%" thinks the public has the right to see the video.
“Ian Stewart could be anyone's son," Kushner said. “They can't actually tell us why this would implicate school safety. And I think that just confirms that this isn't a school safety issue. This is a public scrutiny issue.”
Stewart said it makes her ask a lot of questions.
"The district's continued denial in letting me see what happened to my child makes all of those questions more intense," she said.
Pasco County Schools Full Response in Denying Release of School Bus Video:
"Pasco County Schools is not in a position to provide you with a copy of the requested video. Please be advised that the security and surveillance video has been retained and preserved on the advice of legal counsel and has been made a part of our risk management file in the anticipation of litigation, and is thereby not subject to public disclosure in accordance with Section 768.28(16)(b), Florida Statutes. Furthermore, in an effort to maintain school security and the School Board’s security plans and methods in accordance with Section 281.301, Florida Statutes, Section 119.071, Florida Statutes, Op. Att’y Gen. 2015-06 (4/16/15), and the Marjory Stoneman Douglas Act, SCHOOL BOARD holds its security and surveillance videos, and the location of cameras as confidential security information. Lastly, the video contains personally identifiable information of students actively engaged in the education process, and as such the documentation is confidential student information pursuant to Section 1002.22, Florida Statutes and 20 USC 1232g (commonly referred to as FERPA). Because the video has not been utilized or preserved regarding any educational function concerning the child, the video does not relate to the child, and because the School Board has not maintained the video as a record relating to the child’s education, but has instead retained the video as a risk management document, Pasco County Schools is not maintaining the record as an educational record concerning the child under FERPA."
Hillsborough County crews work six days a week to improve stormwater drainage
The ongoing restoration work is part of a larger effort by Hillsborough County Public Works aimed at mitigating flooding risks throughout the area. Officials are hopeful that these improvements will provide a sense of safety during this hurricane season.