School: Students, staff made racist remarks on protests

CARY, N.C. (AP) — A public school system in North Carolina suspended a school bus driver for comments, and said it plans to take disciplinary actions against students who made “racist, vile, and thoughtless statements” on social media about the national protests over the death of George Floyd.

The statements by some students and employees “aggravated and trivialized the emotions felt by many across the nation, particularly members of the African American community,” Wake County Public School Superintendent Cathy Moore and Keith Sutton, the school system’s board chairman, said in a joint statement on Monday.

Lisa Luten, the school system spokeswoman, told The News & Observer the school decided to discipline the students after learning about the statements posted on social media over the weekend and on Monday. She did not provide details on what the statements said, who the students were, or what disciplinary actions will be taken citing student confidentiality policies.

The move comes as a school bus driver was suspended with pay while the school reviews a complaint about a statement she made on Facebook, Luten said.

The Facebook comment by the bus driver said police should “Have the fire department turn on the water. Watch them run.” It was unclear what Facebook post she was commenting on. She did not respond to a request for comment by The News & Observer, and her Facebook page has since been taken down.

“To be sure, the racist actions of a few do not define our school system,” the joint statement said. “However, we cannot be silent in the face of racism in our community or beyond.”

Protests over the death of George Floyd in Raleigh, the county seat of Wake County, led to street fires, store break-ins, and fireworks thrown at officers over the weekend. Raleigh Mayor Mary-Ann Baldwin imposed a curfew in the city on Monday that will run each night from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.