An exclusive KIRO Team 7 Investigation into a vicious fight between students on a Renton middle school bus leads to police action.

While prosecutors now ponder possible criminal charges, Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne learned what the bus driver was doing while the fight carried on and on.

Warning: Video contains graphic language

The Renton school district is standing behind its driver, saying she followed policy when dealing with a fight on her bus.

If that's the case, some parents say it’s time to change that policy.

Two cameras are videotaping inside a Renton school bus as kids head home for the afternoon.

The video shows a 12-year-old girl sitting along the bus window to the right. She gets up and throws the first punch.

A fist-flying, hair-pulling, face beating brawl sweeps across the back end of the middle school bus. Dozens of students are out of their seats, swearing and jumping around.

Return To Story Should Bus Driver Have Intervened? Should the bus driver have intervened during the fight? Yes No Undecided

It goes on for 1 minute, 26 seconds. That's half the length of a round of professional boxing.

And the bus driver just keeps driving.

“I was horrified to see my daughter assaulted -- lunged at -- thrown on the isle of the bus and beaten," Martha Sly told KIRO Team 7 Investigators.

Sly's daughter spent the beginning of the fight with her back to the floor defending blows from above. She was suspended for fighting along with the other girl. Martha Sly saw the tape and wondered why the bus driver didn't pull over, call police, or try to stop the fight for such a long time.

“In my opinion, if there had been a weapon involved, my daughter could be dead and in the ground right now. That’s what bothers me most, is that this could happen again if the Renton School District does not change its policy," said Sly.

“(Drivers) aren't trained in hand to hand combat,” responds Renton School District spokesperson, Randy Matheson.

He says transportation bosses and an attorney reviewed the fight tapes and determined the driver acted appropriately.

“A minute 26 seems like an eternity if you're watching the tape seeing the kids fight. And if you're a parent you think 'My God, why don't you just stop where you're at and break it up?’ Well, that's unsafe. Stopping on the road is unsafe. So our rules are: Find the place where you can safely pull over, be out of the way of traffic, then deal with situation.” explains Matheson.

The driver told district officials the first and only safe spot to pull over was actually back at Dimmitt Middle School, about a 10 block circle-back from where the fight allegedly started.

By rewinding videotape to several minutes before the fight broke out, we noticed the bus driver left the school, drove down the street, and pulled over in traffic for a much less important reason than a brawl. The driver walked to the back of the bus to scold Martha's daughter for sitting with two boys.

Martha Sly says she tried repeatedly to file a criminal assault complaint against the female student who reportedly started the fight, but couldn't get police to open a case. When she watches the videotape, it reminds her of the King County bus tunnel beating, where adult security guards stood around and allowed another teenage girl to get kicked.

Sly told us, “I definitely see a parallel. I wonder how a bus driver can just yell ‘Sit down! Sit down!’ and not stop the bus and offer aid to my daughter or the other girl. They were both hurt in this incident. My daughter fought back. Call the police. Do something.”

A King County Sheriff’s Deputy is assigned to Dimmitt Middle School, but the fight occurred just inside the city of Renton. Martha Sly says neither police agency would take claim jurisdiction or take a report, until we called.

The Juvenile Division of the King County Prosecutor's Officer is currently reviewing the matter.