LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A Louisville mother is filing a lawsuit against Jefferson County Public Schools after her sons were hit by a car on their way to a TARC bus stop.
Kianna Miller claims the boys never should have had to take the bus in the first place. During a Tuesday morning news conference at the Louisville office of attorney TJ Smith, she said she wants $20 million after her sons were unable to ride a JCPS bus one October morning, resulting in them getting hit by a car.
The 11- and 13-year-old boys attend Crosby Middle School, which is an hour bus ride to and from school.
Miller says their neighborhood school is only a 10-minute walk from their house, but JCPS assigned them to go to Crosby.
She claims her youngest son was bullied and harassed on the school bus and tried to change an assigned seat on the bus. As a result, the mother says he was suspended from riding the bus for two days.
Miller says their household doesn't have access to transportation, so her son had no choice but to take the TARC bus to get to school. His older brother wanted to make sure the 11-year-old made it to school safely, so he tried to take the TARC with him.
On their way to the TARC stop on Oct. 31, they were hit while crossing South 31st Street and West Broadway.
Attorneys TJ Smith and Ted Gordon blame JCPS for the incident and say it all could have been avoided if the boys weren't forced to go to a school because of their race.
"They decided these two young men have to attend a school which is an hour to an hour-and-a-half away from their home," Gordon said. "They're forced on that bus -- if you want to call it forced busing, so be it, that's what it is -- to go to that school. The sole reason they go to that school is for racial purposes."
The 11-year-old has a traumatic brain injury and the 13-year-old had a broken leg from the crash.
Police are still looking for the suspect who hit them.
JCPS does not comment on pending litigation.
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