Bus monitor to retire but denies it’s due to bullies

A school bus monitor who was shown in a video being relentlessly bullied by a group of boys has said she will retire.

Karen Klein, a 68-year-old grandmother, said that the decision to leave the job she held for three years was tough, but was not based on her now infamous encounter with mean-spirited 12- 15-year-olds, who tormented her with profanity, insults and threats during a bus run in June.

A 10-minute video of the episode went viral. One viewer decided to try to raise $5,000 (€4,080) to send Ms Klein on holiday after the episode but the campaign unexpectedly took off and spurred an outpouring of more than $700,000 in donations from all over the world.

“I’m not quitting because of what happened. That’s not it,” Ms Klein said from her home in the Rochester suburb of Greece, New York. “I enjoyed working with the kids. But I guess it’s my time to leave. That’s what I’ve decided.”

Although her mind is made up, she said she has yet to submit the paperwork that would make her retirement official.

Before becoming a bus aide, Ms Klein drove a school bus for 20 years.

She said she will keep busy in her retirement, perhaps volunteering with organisations that help people touched by bullying or suicide.

Ms Klein’s oldest son took his life 10 years ago, making all the more appalling one of the students’ taunts: “You don’t have a family because they all killed themselves because they don’t want to be near you.”

The video, captured by a mobile and posted online, shows Ms Klein trying her best to ignore the abuse.

The Greece school district has suspended the four students for a year.

A Toronto man, Max Sidorov, was so moved by Ms Klein’s story that he started an online campaign with the goal of raising $5,000. The fundraising site Indiegogo listed the total amount raised at $703,833. A spokeswoman for the site said more than 30,000 people donated from at least 84 countries.