Mom charged with assault on FCPS school bus monitor released from jail, seeks video

The mother charged with assaulting a Fayette school bus monitor told the Herald-Leader Wednesday she was released from jail, and she’s trying to obtain video that will show the bus monitor’s actions in the lead-up to the incident.

Tori Wright, 33, was charged with third-degree assault of a school employee after the Thursday altercation, court records show.

Wright ”intentionally punched” the bus monitor — who was acting in the course of her employment — in the face multiple times and caused visible injury, court records say.

Wright told the Herald-Leader in a telephone interview Wednesday that her elementary school-aged daughter called her while on the bus to say the monitor had hit her in the mouth.

Wright said she could hear her daughter say, “Stop hitting me in my mouth.”

Wright told the Herald-Leader Wednesday she had been in jail since Friday on a $3,000 bond.

She said she and her family have tried unsuccessfully to obtain the video from the school district. All FCPS buses have video cameras on them “to document events and responsibility for actions on the school bus,” according to FCPS.

“Everybody’s been asking to see the video,” said Wright. “All the family members have tried to see the video.”

While Wright was in jail, her family members showed WKYT — the Herald-Leader’s reporting partner — a note from a doctor’s office that said Wright’s daughter was evaluated for trauma suffered during her bus ride and was found to have a slightly swollen inner lip.

Wright’s family told WKYT Wright was “protecting her child,” saying the incident started after her daughter tried “helping her younger sister adjust in her seat after getting on the bus.” The older daughter said “the bus monitor then slapped her in the mouth, and she called her mother, who came to the bus soon after.”

The mother is the only one who has been charged in the incident as of Wednesday, police said.

Lexington police spokesperson Bige Towery told the Herald-Leader, “in reference to the FCPS Bus incident, it does not appear any reports have been filed with LexPD beyond the 04/16/2026 assault which resulted in the arrest of Tori Latrice Wright.”

School district officials did not answer questions Wednesday about the employment status of the bus monitor.

“We are focused on gathering all relevant facts and will address the situation in accordance with district policy,” FCPS spokesperson Miranda Scully told the Herald-Leader Wednesday. “Any issues reported through the appropriate channels are reviewed and addressed appropriately.“

Scully also referred the Herald-Leader to her previous statement on Tuesday, which said the district was aware of the incident and that safety of students and staff is “our highest priority.”

Scully said in the earlier statement that “any form of physical aggression toward school employees is taken very seriously and will not be tolerated,” and parents and guardians aren’t allowed to board school buses for safety reasons.

‘We understand that families may occasionally have concerns about their child’s experience, and we encourage parents to report any issues through the appropriate channels,” Scully said in the earlier statement. “To help us review concerns effectively, please report the specific details of what happened and when it occurred directly to your school’s administration or FCPS Transportation Department so they can be addressed promptly and appropriately.”

This story was originally published April 22, 2026 at 4:02 PM.