Who is Diane Crawford? GiveSendGo raises over $19000 for school bus driver fired for asking students to only speak English

A GiveSendGo campaign has garnered support for Diane Crawford, a fired school bus driver. The fundraiser has already raised over $19,000 to provide her with the financial support, months after her firing over an alleged racially insensitive note. 

Crawford remained a student transportation driver for the Juniata County School District (JCSD) in Pennsylvania for 35 years. Diane was contracted by Rohrer Bus for nearly 13 years and claimed to have received “Driver of the Year” under the company.

In February, she was reportedly fired over an incident involving a Spanish-speaking student. 

On February 1, 2025, JCSD’s official Facebook page shared the statements from the district administration and Rohrer Bus. It was stated that an unnamed driver was suspended for putting up a racially insensitive note.

However, Diane Crawford claimed in one of her posts that she was fired instead of being suspended. The alleged racist note read: 

“Out of respect to English-only students, there will be no speaking Spanish on this bus.” 

Diane Crawford asserted in multiple Facebook posts that the sign was placed for a specific ninth-grade bilingual student.

She suspected that the student had disciplinary issues and might have been bullying others in Spanish.

In a Facebook post on December 15, she claimed reporting a specific incident to JCSD’s Director of Transportation, Nicole Brothers: 

“This was the morning of January 31st. I went into talk with her [Nicole Brothers] and expressed concerns over him, bullying and name-calling, as I felt that he had called me fat in Spanish (Gordo).”

The fired bus driver also reflected upon her financial struggles in the months following her firing. 

Diane Crawford opens up about her firing and financial struggles in a recent interview with CBS 21 News

The fired JCSD bus driver has criticized the school district administration and Rohrer Bus in numerous Facebook posts for her firing.

In December, she had the opportunity to chat with CBS 21 News and discuss the incident on camera.

During the conversation, she expressed regret over the wording of the note, but insisted that it was not racially insensitive. Diane told the outlet: 

“I didn't mean to be racially insensitive or anything like that. 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.” 

Diane claimed that she didn’t know that the student was actually bullying, as she explained: 

“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.” 

She added: 

“How do you keep control of your bus if you have no control? Even if it's only over one kid, and even when you ask for help and don't get any.” 

In one of her Facebook posts, Diane Crawford mentioned being in debt of $40,000. Through CBS 21 News, the fired driver asked for over $30,000 to pay off for the bus and the route she claimed to have paid for in 2024.

Crawford stated she would like the administration and Rohrer Bus to “admit that they were wrong.”  

During her chat, Crawford also said: 

“I don't know what else to do. I'm on Medicare and Medicaid now and SNAP. I had to go on antidepressants because of this.” 

Her interview garnered the attention of Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the DOJ, who initiated an investigation into the firing. Dhillon tweeted: 

“This is deeply concerning. I have directed ⁦@CivilRights to open an investigation into this situation implicating DEI wokeness. “ 

The case also led Tom Henessy, a popular conservative X user, to start the GiveSendGo page for Diane Crawford.

The fundraiser, which initially had a $20,000 goal, is aiming to raise $50,000. As mentioned, the campaign has already raised more than $19,000.