COUSHATTA, La.
A Louisiana school district is investigating complaints that a White school bus driver ordered nine Black children to sit at the back of the bus.
Last week, the Red River School Board met with the parents of the students involved in the incident to inform them that the bus driver was suspended without pay, and results of the district’s investigation would be announced at a school board meeting on Sept. 5.
Iva Richmond, whose 14- and 15-year-old children were on the bus, told The Associated Press that they previously had a Black bus driver, but their bus assignment changed this year. When school started this month, the White driver told them she had assigned them seats, with the Black children seated at the back of the bus.
Richmond said she complained to a local principal, who told the driver that if any children were assigned to seats, all would have to be.
Early last week, the driver assigned Black students to two seats in the back of the bus, an arrangement that had some of the smaller children sitting in the laps of older children.
“All nine children were assigned to two seats in the back of the bus and the older ones had to hold the smaller ones in their laps,” Richmond said.
