Drama hit a rural Pennsylvania community after a seasoned school bus driver was axed for hanging up a rule banning Spanish from her bus—a move she swears wasn’t about racism, but about nipping bullying in the bud. Diane Crawford, 66, spent 30 years behind the wheel until outrage over her hand-scrawled sign—”Out of respect to English only students there will be NO speaking Spanish on this bus”—sent her career skidding to a halt.
In an emotional interview with Local 21 News, Crawford struggled to hold back tears, insisting her intentions were misunderstood. “I never meant to be insensitive,” she sobbed, “I just wanted to stop bullying, especially because I couldn’t understand what was being said. Maybe the sign should have just read ‘No bullying in any language,’ but that wasn’t how I phrased it.”
Crawford revealed the ordeal has taken a heavy toll—after the Juniata County School District dropped her, she’s now living on Medicare, Medicaid, and food stamps, and even had to start taking antidepressants to cope.
The controversy erupted almost overnight. Crawford, who not only drove but actually owned the bus under a contract with Rohrer Bus company, says she was terminated just hours after the sign went public. “I couldn’t believe it. Total shock,” she recalled.
She claims the sign wasn’t a broadside against Spanish speakers—it was aimed at a specific student Crawford says repeatedly caused trouble by hiding behind language she couldn’t understand. “I wasn’t sure if what he said was bullying or worse,” Crawford explained, referencing the Spanish word ‘Gordo’—which means ‘fat’ in English—that she overheard. “Maybe he was talking to someone else, maybe even about me. Still, it felt wrong.”
Local uproar quickly reached school district leaders and Rohrer Bus management, who issued a joint statement backing the bus driver’s removal. “Once the investigation began and Diane Crawford acknowledged writing the note, the decision was made swiftly,” the release read. “We are determined to provide students with a safe, welcoming environment—discrimination has no place on our buses.”
For Crawford, the end of her decades-long job has been a bitter pill to swallow, but the Juniata County School District and Rohrer Bus aren’t budging. Their message: respect and inclusivity ride with every child, in every language.
