Social media post of Tarrant County students sitting on school bus floor raises questions, school system responds
A photo showing students sitting on the floor of a Crowley Independent School District bus has raised concerns about student safety.
In a statement to CBS News Texas, Chief Communications Officer Anthony Kirchner said, "Crowley ISD is aware of a social media post showing students sitting on the floor of a school bus."
District says seats were available
Kirchner's statement did not explain why students were on the floor or for how long. He said the 28-passenger bus had only 16 students on board and seats were available.
Makayala Lyons told CBS News Texas that her ninth-grade son was one of the students on the bus. Lyons said she didn't think anything was wrong until he FaceTimed her from onboard.
"I see him like just his face — and then he's like mom, 'You got to call and figure something out because we're sitting on the floor,'" she said. "We're on like a bus with no seats."
Student describes puddle on seat
According to Lyons' son, the bus was handicap accessible and not his usual school bus. He said the driver told students to "bear with us." The teen said he looked for a seat but saw others already sitting and noticed a ramp in the back.
"I see even people sitting in the back or the people that got on the bus before me. I saw them sitting down," he said. "I saw the ramp and I'm just like so we're sitting down on the floor."
He said four students sat on the floor until they reached school. While he acknowledged there was one open seat, he said it was unusable.
"The only open seat— it was like a big puddle of water there," he said. "So nobody really wanted to sit there."
Photo sparks online outrage
Before noon, a photo of the students on the floor was posted in a community group about Crowley ISD. Commenters tagged the district, and Kirchner responded by asking a parent to contact him.
In his statement to CBS News Texas, Kirchner said, "Students are not permitted to sit on the floor of a bus. This situation should have been addressed immediately, and we have met with the driver and monitor directly and will be dealing with this in accordance with our policies."
As one commenter noted, the Texas transportation code prohibits school bus drivers from operating a bus with passengers standing or sitting on the floor.
Crowley ISD said it remains committed to student safety on school buses.
Lyons said she was disappointed. Her son got lost on a bus when he started kindergarten in another district, and she's been wary of school transportation ever since. She said she contacted the district about the incident.
Kirchner said the district had not received any formal complaints on Wednesday beyond the social media reaction.