Upper West Side private school bus driver accused of punching child

UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) -- There are uneasy feelings at the Ideal School of Manhattan on West 91st Street. On Friday, a school administrator contacted police after a 6-year-old male student arrived with a nosebleed. He said the school bus driver punched him in the face.

Paul Daley's son was on the very same bus.

"That's why I'm here to pick him up, because I ain't got no bus to get him right now...he ain't riding that bus no more," Daley says.

Furthermore, two other students said the very same bus driver previously told them to pull down their pants. Police have interviewed the students, and are now tracking down the driver - a 53-year-old man with a criminal history that includes 14 arrests.

"They got to do a lot of background checks on stuff like that. Because there are people out here, they are getting jobs, but they still have that background in them," says parent Paul Robinson.

"When you send your kids to school and you trust a bus driver to go and get your kid, you expect your driver to behave," added parent Hansy Severin.

Administrators point out the bus driver and his company are not under contract with the school, saying parents from Ideal and two other schools arranged the transportation for their children.