The bullied bus monitor made famous by a viral video is calling it quits after receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations.
Karen Klein, a grandmother from suburban Rochester, N.Y., told the Associated Press on Friday that she is leaving her job. She has been a bus monitor for the Greece School District for three years.
Klein, 68, became a household name after a viral video showed four seventh-graders taunting and berating her with insults and profanity. The 10-minute video sparked worldwide outrage against the boys' behavior. An online fundraising effort on Klein's behalf raised more than $700,000 in donations.
She told the AP her retirement is not because of what happened on the last day of school in June, but because it's time to move on.
Klein reportedly made only $15,506 a year, according to the Indiegogo campaign page, "Lets Give Karen – The bus monitor – H Klein A Vacation!." At the time of the campaign, Southwest Airlines also offered to fly Klein and nine other people to Disneyland for free.
The school district in Greece, N.Y., where the incident happened, has suspended the four Athena Middle School students for a year. Two of the students and the father of a third have apologized to Klein via statements to local police.
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