Pennsylvania State Sen. Doug Mastriano on Sunday criticized a school district he said “effectively forced” a bus driver out of his job because he wore a hat that read “Make America Great Again.”
The bus driver, Dave Bonhoff, quit his position transporting students for the Littlestown Area School District after he was told his MAGA hat choice violated the institution’s dress code policy.
“Whether someone agrees with that message is completely irrelevant. In America, citizens do not lose their First Amendment rights simply because someone else claims to be offended,” Mastriano, a Republican, said in a lengthy statement defending Bonhoff, whom he described as a “retired police officer.”
“Dave Bonhoff showed more courage in standing by his principles than many institutions have shown in defending the rights they claim to value. No American should ever be forced to choose between their livelihood and their constitutional freedoms,” Mastriano added. “I stand firmly with Dave Bonhoff and with every Pennsylvanian who refuses to be bullied into silence.”
Al Moyer, the Littlestown Area School District’s acting superintendent of schools, said in response to the controversy that he believed “districts need to be neutral on sensitive issues,” and shifted responsibility to Krise Transportation, which employed Bonhoff.
Bonhoff’s boss at Krise called him up and said the school district didn’t want him to wear the hat, after one of the students on his bus complained about his MAGA apparel, according to WHP.
“She contacts me and says, ‘Hey, listen, I’m going to buy you a hat, an American flag hat, because the school district has deemed that they don’t want you to wear that ‘Make America Great Again’ hat,’” Bonhoff said. “If that wasn’t a condition of my employment, I’d be back to work tomorrow. I miss the kids. Those kids and I had a great relationship.”
In an official statement, Krise denied forcing Bonhoff to remove the hat, according to Wide Open Country, but noted that the district has a dress code employees must follow.
“Any item of apparel with text or graphics deemed inappropriate by management (including but not limited to alcoholic beverages, drugs, tobacco/vaping, suggestive sexual images or remarks, political sentiments, or offensive statements) are prohibited,” the company said.
Though the MAGA hat is predominantly associated with President Donald Trump’s political movement, Bonhoff said his hat had nothing to do with partisanship.
“I would say that making America great is what we should all strive to be,” he said. “Anybody who doesn’t want America to prosper, I take issue with them.”
Mastriano, who was a Pennsylvanian gubernatorial contender in 2022, said Bonhoff had a “God-given right” to wear the hat.
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“Freedom of expression is not granted by bureaucrats, administrators or activists,” the Pennsylvania lawmaker said. “It is a God-given right protected by the Constitution — and it must be defended without apology.
“Driving a man out of his job because someone dislikes the message on his hat is not neutrality — it is ideological discrimination, plain and simple,” he said. “Political correctness has become a tool of intimidation. It is used to shame, threaten, and drive ordinary Americans out of their jobs and public life simply for expressing views that do not align with the approved narrative. That is not tolerance. That is coercion.”
