School Bus Driver Fired After Pouring Water on a Spanish-Speaking Student

A bus driver in Iowa was fired after video emerged of her pouring water on a student's head and yelling at him for speaking Spanish.

An Idaho school bus driver in Idaho has been fired for berating and pouring water on a student's head, KTVB in Idaho reports. Mary Black, the bus driver, was caught on film by a student on her bus as she yelled at another student, which then escalated to her dumping water on his head. She also told the student, who was speaking in Spanish, to "speak to me in English." 

The video was captured by Brayan Alverez, a freshman at Jerome High School. Alverez told KTVB that the student on whom Black poured the water was his friend, eighth grader Miguel Martinez. According to KTVB, Black accused Martinez of throwing a water bottle, and also accused Alverez of encouraging Martinez to throw the bottle, which Alverez says didn't happen.

Next, Alverez told KTVB that Black attempted to confiscate Martinez's phone, "and when she didn't get to do that, she just grabbed the water bottle and started getting him wet." 

In the video, part of which aired during a KTVB segment, Black scolded Martinez for speaking Spanish, telling him that America is an "English speaking country." "I don't understand Spanish. I'm not going to learn it," Black said in the video. "I live in America and it's an English-speaking country. So if you want to speak to me, speak to me in English."

Juan Espino, a friend of Alverez's family, posted the video to Facebook. Espino told KTVB that Alverez informed him that this is not the first time Black has behaved inappropriately with students on the bus. "He told me he was told by the bus driver that it was not allowed to speak in Spanish while riding the bus," he said.

KTVB spoke with the bus company that previously employed Black, the Northside Bus Company, which confirmed that Black had been fired but wouldn't provide further comment regarding the video or other possible times Black displayed inappropriate behavior.

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