Shocking bus fight videos raise safety concerns at North Fort Myers school

A local mother in North Fort Myers is raising concerns about the safety and supervision on her children's school bus after discovering alarming videos on her teenager's phone. The footage, which shows students fighting on a crowded bus, prompted her to seek answers from the School District of Lee County.

The mother's children attend North Fort Myers Academy for the Arts, located near Suncoast Estates. She regularly checks her children's phones and recently found multiple videos depicting fights on the school bus, with students packed tightly in seats and aisles.

"There are frequent physical fights, there's items thrown. Small children are being hurt," the mother said. "There's three kids to a seat, and there's little to no supervision."

Her son, a third-grader, and her daughter, an eighth-grader, both ride the bus. She said her son has come home with scratches and red marks, having been slapped and pinched due to the overcrowded conditions.

"He rides the bus as well with his sister. She's in eighth grade. He's come home with scratches, red marks. He's been slapped, pinched, and it's so crowded that it's almost impossible to avoid even if there's an altercation going on around him," she said.

Despite filing multiple complaints online, the mother felt her concerns were not being addressed, prompting her to reach out to WINK News. In response to her inquiries, the school district acknowledged the lack of bus aides due to staffing and funding issues.

"They usually have bus aides that sit in the mid sections of the bus, but they aren't and cannot provide them because they do not have the staffing and lack of funding," she said.

WINK News reached out to the School District of Lee County, and a spokesperson explained, "The state does not require or fund attendants for regular busing. We do our best to provide them when possible. Prior to this parent's complaint, we had not received any reports of fighting on board bus #1562 from the driver, the students, or their parents. We are waiting to receive the videos shared with you to review them and determine what, if any, actions we can take. Bus #1562 is a 77-passenger bus with 70 students on the roster. Not every student on the roster rides the bus. Approximately 40 students have been riding to school recently, and about 60 regularly ride home."

The district is now developing a grade-level seating chart for the bus to improve safety, with younger students sitting near the front and older students in the rear.