The Trump Administration is investigating a Pennsylvania school district for firing a school bus driver who put up a sign that told students there would be “no speaking Spanish” on her bus. 

In January, a school bus driver subcontracted by the Juniata County School District, Diane Crawford, put up a sign on her bus that said, “Out of respect to English-only students, there will be no speaking Spanish on this bus.”

Ms. Crawford, who worked as a school bus driver for three decades before acquiring her own bus and subcontracting with Rohrer Bus, was fired over the sign, which the district says was “racially insensitive.”

The head of the Justice Department’s civil rights division, Harmeet Dhillon, said in a post on X on Sunday that she is launching an “investigation into this situation implicating DEI wokeness.”

Ms. Crawford told a TV station at Harrisburg, CBS 21, that she decided to put the sign up because of a specific bilingual student, who, according to CBS 21 “allegedly had a history of riling up other students in Spanish.”

“I didn’t know if he was bullying somebody, telling them to do something that they shouldn’t do,” Ms. Crawford said.

She said she received a call from her supervisor on February 1, about one week after she put her sign up, telling her that her contract with Rohrer Bus was terminated. The company said she was suspended as a “precautionary measure,” and that she was fired after an investigation.

Ms. Crawford told CBS 21 that she did not intend for the sign to be “racially insensitive.”

“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,” she added. 

Ms. Crawford is suing the school district for $30,000 to help cover the cost of the school bus she purchased.

The Juniata County School District and Rohrer Bus said in a joint statement to CBS 21 that “the District and Rohrer determined that the conduct did not align with the standards and expectations for student transportation providers.”

“Both the District and Rohrer take student behavior concerns seriously and strive to support drivers when concerns are reported through established communication and documentation channels so that issues can be addressed appropriately and collaboratively,” the statement said.

The district and Rohrer added that they “stand by the decision made in this matter and remain committed to providing a safe and inclusive transportation environment for all students.”