A school bus driver was fired after she required students to speak English on her bus, in an effort to address and put a stop to bullying that was happening on the transport.
Diane Crawford, 66, placed a note on the bus window with the words, “Out of respect to English-only students, there will be no speaking Spanish on this bus,” according to Local21 News.
Crawford, a “self-employed owner/operator” who was subcontracted by Rohrer Bus to serve the Juniata County School District in Mifflintown, Pennsylvania, explained to the outlet that she placed the sign up “to encourage safe and respectful behavior.”
Crawford added that the sign “was directed at a bilingual student who allegedly had a history of riling up other students in Spanish,” according to the outlet.
“I didn’t know if he was bullying somebody, telling them to do something that they shouldn’t do,” Crawford explained, adding that she thought she overheard the student saying the word “Gordo.”
In Spanish, the word Gordo means “fat.”
Crawford explained that in the aftermath of her being fired, she has been faced with going on Medicare and Medicaid, and signed up for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
“I didn’t mean to be racially insensitive or anything like that,” Crawford added, admitting that she probably “should have worded” the sign differently.
In a joint statement, the Juniata County School District and the Rohrer Bus Service explained that their investigation into the situation finished after Crawford “provided a written admission confirming” that she had placed the sign on her bus.
“Following the incident in question, the District and Rohrer jointly reviewed the situation in accordance with established procedures,” the joint statement said. “The investigation concluded after the subcontractor provided a written admission confirming that the signage had been installed on her bus. At that point, the relevant facts of the situation were fully known and discussed among District and Rohrer leadership.”
In a post on X, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon called this situation “deeply concerning” and added that she had directed the Department of Justice’s Civil Rights division to “open an investigation.”
“This is deeply concerning,” Dhillon wrote. “I have directed @CivilRights to open an investigation into this situation implicating DEI wokeness.”
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