School bus driver accused of separating Texas students by race is now out of a job

A bus driver accused of separating middle school students by race was fired by a Texas school district, media outlets report.

Middle school students in Comal Independent School District, northeast of San Antonio, complained that the driver “segregated by color” during a route in late February, KSAT reported. Students said the driver told children of color to sit in the front while white kids sat in the back, the San Antonio TV station reported.

The employee said she assigned seats based on behavior, the San Antonio Express-News reported.

The school district investigated the case and determined the bus driver acted inappropriately, though officials didn’t say whether the the employee had separated students by race, the newspaper reported. Officials announced the firing on Friday.

According to the school district, the bus driver disciplined students who were not guilty of misconduct, KENS reported. The bus driver “demonstrated lack of due diligence and professional judgment when instituting discipline,” the school district said, according to the station.

“The bus driver’s failure to do her due diligence in investigating the behavior of students on Feb. 20 resulted in the disciplining of students on Feb. 24 who had not been guilty of misconduct,” the school district said in statement, according to KENS.