‘Racially Insensitive’: PA School Bus Driver Says She Was Fired After Asking Students to Speak English

December 24, 2025 Culture

It’s looking like this Christmas won’t be very merry for a (now) former school bus driver from Pennsylvania, who recently was fired from her job after posting a sign on her bus requesting that students speak only in English. The driver, Diane Crawford, 66, says she resorted to hanging the sign after a troublemaking bilingual student spoke only in Spanish while causing disruptions on the bus, and, as a result of the sign, she’s been let go by the Juniata County School District for “racial insensitivity.”

[snip]

“I didn’t mean to be racially insensitive or anything like that,” Crawford said. “Maybe I should have worded it (differently). Maybe it should have said, ‘No bullying in any language,’ but I didn’t mean it to be anything but to correct him.”

Crawford, who owns the bus and was subcontracted to work in Juniata County by the Rohrer Bus company, was called the night she posted the sign and told by the bus company that her contract had been terminated. “I think I just instantly went into shock,” she said.

Officials said Crawford’s action did not their meet standards for providers of student transportation. The bus driver took responsibility for posting the sign, but apparently it was too late and the decision to sack her was made.

[snip]

It sounds like the bilingual child in question was a real pill. According to Crawford – who doesn’t speak Spanish, but understands some words – she heard the student using the word “gordo” to describe someone on the bus, possibly her. “Gordo” means “fat” in Spanish.

“I didn’t know if he was bullying somebody, telling them to do something that they shouldn’t do,” Crawford said. “I thought I heard him saying ‘Gordo’ and — I understand some of (the words) — I don’t know who he was talking to, but I assume he is directing at me.”

[snip]

In March of this year, President Trump signed an executive order designating English as the official language of the United States. As noted by the order, “A nationally designated language is at the core of a unified and cohesive society, and the United States is strengthened by a citizenry that can freely exchange ideas in one shared language.”

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* Original Article:

https://redstate.com/terichristoph/2025/12/22/pennsylvania-school-bus-driver-fired-after-asking-students-to-speak-english-n2197377