Maine Bus Driver Allegedly Used Duct Tape to Keep Students Quiet

School officials in a coastal Maine community say a bus driver has been taken off her route following an incident involving Hello Kitty duct tape.

The Portland Press Herald reports that two 4th-grade girls told their principal that the bus driver made them wear duct tape on their mouths for being loud on the bus.

In a statement on Surry Elementary school's website, Principal Cathy Lewis says the woman who drove the bus was taken off the route after the incident was reported to her.

Lewis said that “most kids thought it was a game” but she looked at it as “an error in judgment on the part of someone entrusted to take care of the kids."

The principal said the woman has denied using duct tape to keep kids quiet.

The company that provides Surry’s school bus service, First Student, said the driver has been placed on administrative leave while it conducts an internal investigation.