Karen Klein, the bullied bus monitor, will retire

Karen Klein, the elderly school bus monitor shown in a video being tormented by mean-spirited seventh graders, is calling it quits.

The 68-year-old grandmother told the Associated Press today that she would retire because “it’s my time to leave.”

"I'm not quitting because of what happened. That's not it," said Klein, who lives in suburban Rochester, New York.

"I enjoyed working with the kids. But I guess it's my time to leave. That's what I've decided."

The 10-minute video of Klein being bullied relentlessly by a group of boys earlier this summer went viral after it was posted online.

The video has so far attracted more than eight million hits on Youtube and turned Klein into a household name.

After watching the video showing Klein being taunted and harassed to the verge of tears, Max Sidorov, a 25-year-old Toronto nutritionist, decided to set up a fundraising page for Klein Indiegogo.com.

The online fund has attracted more than $700,000 in donations from all over the world, underscoring the appalling nature of the footage.

Klein told The Canadian Press earlier this week that she planned to invest some of the money and take a holiday, possibly to Hawaii.

“I’ve been to Hawaii, I loved Hawaii,” she said.

According to the Los Angeles Times, the Greece school district has suspended the four students for a year.

More from GlobalPost: Bullied bus monitor Karen Klein to meet benefactor Max Sidorov