A ninth-grade girl was sexually assaulted on a Duval County school bus in September 2024 while the driver looked on and failed to intervene, according to a 42-page federal civil rights lawsuit filed against the district.

The complaint, reported by Jacksonville Today on Monday, Aug. 10, names the Duval County School Board, Superintendent Christopher Bernier, two Stanton College Preparatory School administrators, a school resource officer, contracted bus operator Student Transportation of America and the bus driver as defendants. STA operates routes serving Mandarin High School, Mandarin Middle School and area elementary schools.

The victim, identified in court filings by the pseudonym "Jane Doe," described the Sept. 30, 2024, assault as "the worst 7 to 10 minutes of my life" in a written report she later submitted to school administrators.

Lawsuit describes escalating harassment, driver's inaction during assault

The complaint describes three incidents of escalating harassment aboard an STA-operated bus, culminating in the Sept. 30 assault. The girl was seated near the front of the bus and verbally objected. The driver did not stop the bus.

Security camera footage reviewed by the family shows the driver "looked into the interior mirror more than once, glanced toward the perpetrator at least once" and "looked directly at the perpetrator while the assault was ongoing" after handing the boy a water bottle, according to court documents as reported by News4Jax.

The surveillance video was not retrieved until mid-November 2024, despite the family asking the district in writing to preserve it after the girl reported the assault to administrators on Oct. 17, 2024, according to News4Jax's review of the filing.

Complaint alleges administrators minimized claims, delayed response

The lawsuit alleges administrators minimized the girl's claims, delayed her access to evidence and failed to provide Title IX resources. Stanton administrators treated her "trauma-driven academic decline" as an ordinary performance problem, the complaint states. They also required the girl to sign a "stay away agreement" without her parents' involvement and directed her to sit at the front of the bus, in the area where the assault had occurred.

The district initially directed that the boy's offense be reduced to a juvenile civil citation. After the family objected, the State Attorney's Office brought criminal charges, and the boy pleaded guilty to felony battery.

DCPS spokesperson Sonya Duke-Bolden said the district would not comment, noting any response would be provided through judicial proceedings.

Attorney Christina Lawrence-Moser, who represents the family, also declined to comment on the pending litigation. Lawrence-Moser previously represented former students in claims against DCPS related to Douglas Anderson School of the Arts.

Lawsuit surfaces as more than 30,000 students return to district buses

The lawsuit lands as more than 30,000 DCPS students returned to school buses for the 2026-27 school year, which began Monday, Aug. 10. That figure includes students riding to Mandarin-area schools on routes operated by STA and Durham School Services.

The complaint alleges the district's failures fit a broader pattern of "known systemic failures in preventing, classifying, reporting, investigating, and remediating sexual misconduct." STA faced separate criticism earlier in 2026 after an adult boarded an STA bus headed to Riverside High School and touched a student inappropriately. DCPS renewed its contract with STA earlier this summer.

The district has said it partnered with BusPatrol America to add security cameras as an "extra layer of protection" for bus riders, according to its 2026-27 Back-to-School Guide.

As of Thursday, Aug. 13, the district had not formally responded to the lawsuit in court. No hearing date has been publicly announced.