First Coast News has reported on at least three other safety incidents involving Student Transportation of America buses within the last year.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Questions remain after a stranger boarded a bus and touched a student in Duval County. The incident is still under investigation and Duval County Public Schools confirmed the district is now actively reviewing the contract with the bus operator, Student Transportation of America.

The incident happened Monday. A DCPS spokesperson confirmed an unauthorized person boarded a bus headed to Riverside High School and touched a student on the knee. 

Pamela Robinson picks up her granddaughter from Riverside High School every day. After learning about the incident on a bus earlier in the week, she said she is worried about her other family members riding buses in Duval County.

“You worry all day long already when they’re at school because people around they come and they shoot the schools up. Now you have to worry about them on the bus and you’re thinking that’s safe. That’s scary,” Robinson said.

A spokesperson for DCPS said the are ‘extremely disappointed that Student Transportation of America failed to follow established safety protocols.’ In a statement, they confirmed the district is actively reviewing its contracts with STA to determine whether any contractual obligations were not met.

Right now, STA operates 360 bus routes within the district, and the routes under review are scheduled to run through 2027 and 2030.

This is not the first safety incident involving an STA bus within the last year, though.

In February 2026, a student was hurt after another student brought a knife on an STA bus. In September 2025, a former STA bus driver was arrested after investigators say he was engaged in a relationship with a student. Back in April 2025, First Coast News reported the termination of an STA bus driver for leaving a child unattended on a bus.

Robinson now want to see changes made to school buses.

“I think they need security on the buses. I really do,” Robinson said.

In a statement, a spokesperson for STA confirmed the driver in Monday’s incident has been removed from service pending the investigation.

First Coast News is still working to learn more details about the incident itself. A DCPS spokesperson said this is an active investigation, and these are all the details they can provide right now.

A school board member told First Coast News investigators believe they have identified the unauthorized individual who boarded the bus.