A couple of weeks ago we told you about a fifth-grade student in Cedar Falls being left in minus-15 degree windchill due to not wearing a mask. The student has an exemption when it comes to wearing masks, but felt he wasn’t allowed to board the bus when confronted by the bus driver.
The Iowa Standard obtained video from the situation. It is the only video of the incident provided by the Cedar Falls School District, though we did ask the district to make sure this was the only interaction between the driver and the student.
You can hear the driver tell the student they have to have a mask.
“Put it on now,” the driver said.
The student tried telling the driver he has an exemption, according to the mother.
“I understand that, and I said, you have to let me know that next time, not right now,” the driver said. “Put it on right now.”
The student must have walked away from the bus as the driver yells that he didn’t understand what was said. The driver shouts to get on the bus, but the student doesn’t have a mask.
The driver can be heard calling in that a kid will not get on the bus.
The boy’s mother told The Iowa Standard that if the driver was going to let him on the bus without a mask, it was not clear to the boy.
According to the student, when the driver mentions next time, she’s referring to him showing his exemption paper next time. And, while later she tells him to get on the bus, she was not allowing him to get on without putting a mask on right now.
There is some question whether this clip shows the entire interaction.
The student maintains he was told he was going to have to put a mask on and get on the bus.
The child’s mother picked him up after receiving a call from him regarding the bus situation. By the time the mother arrived, he had icicles under his nose, she told The Iowa Standard.
The school district has not provided comment on the situation as of early Wednesday morning.
