THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAKELAND, Fla. -- An eighth-grader was suspended from riding the school bus for three days after being accused of passing gas. The bus driver wrote on a misbehavior form that a 15-year-old teen passing gas on the bus Monday to make the other children laugh, creating a stench so bad that it was difficult to breathe. The bus driver handed the teen the suspension form the next day.
Polk County school officials said there is no rule against flatulence, but there are rules against causing a disturbance on the bus.
“Disturbance is putting it lightly,” said driver Juanita Esperanza. “I couldn’t breathe. It smelled like a dead dog’s ass.”
The stench was so bad that when Esperanza opened the doors at a railroad crossing, all of the students fled the bus, causing a delay in the bus route.
The teen said she wasn't the one passing gas. “First who smelt it, dealt it,” she said. “It wasn’t me.”
All the other kids on the bus laughed and pointed, saying, “Yes it was. Yes it was.”
"She squeezed it out," taunted one boy. "I saw her do it."
Whether she did it or not, she might have gotten off easy. A 13-year-old student at a Stuart school was arrested in November after authorities said she broke wind in class.
Some adults are taking the farting around seriously. "I don't think it's one bit funny," said parent Janice Hornitz. "I was kept waiting for fifteen minutes, and I've got things to do other than wait for a bus to air out from farts. She should be expelled. It's the same as bringing a weapon to school."
"Let's be realistic here," said Police Chief Glen Watkins. "You can't turn a kid over to juvenile authorities for farting on a bus. My God."
(this story has been modified from its original format)---
