According to a Clark County Sheriff’s Office report, the bus driver involved in an accident Wednesday where a student was dragged several feet by a school bus was distracted and inattentive.
The accident took place at 130 Clintonville Road in front of the Loving Touch Learning Center, where the report states two children were being dropped off after school. A day care worker went to the bus to assist the second child, who has cerebral palsy, the report states.
Lisa Clem, a Loving Touch Learning Center employee, was helping the student. According to the report, after the child was unloaded, Clem and the child started to walk in front of the bus. But the bus driver, identified as 42-year-old Tammy Howard of Winchester, started to drive away at the same time.
Clem told sheriff’s deputies as the bus took off, she fell to the ground. Clem said she believes the child’s backpack or jacket was snagged on the bus and he was dragged around 10 or 15 feet before the bus stopped.
Video footage from inside the bus was retrieved and shows the child getting off the bus with the day care workers, according to the sheriff’s report. According to the report, “As they near the right front corner of the bus, the driver of (the bus) starts to pull away before the day care worker and child walk across the roadway. The worker falls from the view of the camera and the bus jolts once. The driver stops the bus and gets out to see what happened.”
A witness in the parking lot of the day care said only the driver’s side of the bus could be seen from the center.
The student was transported to University of Kentucky Medical Center, where he was treated for his injuries.
The sheriff’s report included distraction and inattention as factors in the accident. The report states that no vehicular or environmental factors detected.
Clark County School’s Superintendent Paul Christy said reports from the student’s family indicate he suffered a fractured pelvis, fractured wrist and road rash on his face. He said the student’s mother told him he might be able to come home today.
The district is investigating the incident, Christy said, and until the investigation is complete, Howard is not driving a school bus. Decisions about her termination will not be made until the investigation is complete, he said.
All Clark County Schools’ buses were outfitted with new audio and video surveillance equipment about two months ago, so there is sufficient footage of Wednesday’s accident, Christy said. Each bus has two cameras dedicated to taking footage inside the bus, and another takes footage of the stop arm on the outside of the bus.
The fourth camera gives a “driver’s eye view” of the bus. Christy said footage from this camera shows what happened to the student clearly.
“You can’t dispute that video footage,” Christy said. “This is still under investigation, but we are able to see what happened.”
Christy declined to comment on whether footage shows distraction or inattention on the part of the driver.
He said district policy is that a driver should wait for a student to cross the street before driving away. He said most routes are scheduled so students don’t have to cross the road, but in some cases it is required.
Christy said he could not publicly confirm the student has special needs, but did say the student was assigned a special bus monitor to help him on and off the bus and sit with him while he was riding.
“This monitor transferred the student hand-to-hand to the day care worker at the bottom of the bus steps,” he said. “At that point the bus driver should stop the bus, wait for the student and keep traffic stopped for students to cross the street. The driver should keep the stop arm activated in order to stop traffic and make it safe for the student to cross the road.”
The bus was carrying around 25 other students, and no other injuries were reported. Christy said counseling will be provided for students concerned about the safety of riding a bus, and administration has been open to talking with parents about their concerns.
The accident took place at 130 Clintonville Road in front of the Loving Touch Learning Center, where the report states two children were being dropped off after school. A day care worker went to the bus to assist the second child, who has cerebral palsy, the report states.
Lisa Clem, a Loving Touch Learning Center employee, was helping the student. According to the report, after the child was unloaded, Clem and the child started to walk in front of the bus. But the bus driver, identified as 42-year-old Tammy Howard of Winchester, started to drive away at the same time.
Clem told sheriff’s deputies as the bus took off, she fell to the ground. Clem said she believes the child’s backpack or jacket was snagged on the bus and he was dragged around 10 or 15 feet before the bus stopped.
Video footage from inside the bus was retrieved and shows the child getting off the bus with the day care workers, according to the sheriff’s report. According to the report, “As they near the right front corner of the bus, the driver of (the bus) starts to pull away before the day care worker and child walk across the roadway. The worker falls from the view of the camera and the bus jolts once. The driver stops the bus and gets out to see what happened.”
A witness in the parking lot of the day care said only the driver’s side of the bus could be seen from the center.
The student was transported to University of Kentucky Medical Center, where he was treated for his injuries.
The sheriff’s report included distraction and inattention as factors in the accident. The report states that no vehicular or environmental factors detected.
Clark County School’s Superintendent Paul Christy said reports from the student’s family indicate he suffered a fractured pelvis, fractured wrist and road rash on his face. He said the student’s mother told him he might be able to come home today.
The district is investigating the incident, Christy said, and until the investigation is complete, Howard is not driving a school bus. Decisions about her termination will not be made until the investigation is complete, he said.
All Clark County Schools’ buses were outfitted with new audio and video surveillance equipment about two months ago, so there is sufficient footage of Wednesday’s accident, Christy said. Each bus has two cameras dedicated to taking footage inside the bus, and another takes footage of the stop arm on the outside of the bus.
The fourth camera gives a “driver’s eye view” of the bus. Christy said footage from this camera shows what happened to the student clearly.
“You can’t dispute that video footage,” Christy said. “This is still under investigation, but we are able to see what happened.”
Christy declined to comment on whether footage shows distraction or inattention on the part of the driver.
He said district policy is that a driver should wait for a student to cross the street before driving away. He said most routes are scheduled so students don’t have to cross the road, but in some cases it is required.
Christy said he could not publicly confirm the student has special needs, but did say the student was assigned a special bus monitor to help him on and off the bus and sit with him while he was riding.
“This monitor transferred the student hand-to-hand to the day care worker at the bottom of the bus steps,” he said. “At that point the bus driver should stop the bus, wait for the student and keep traffic stopped for students to cross the street. The driver should keep the stop arm activated in order to stop traffic and make it safe for the student to cross the road.”
The bus was carrying around 25 other students, and no other injuries were reported. Christy said counseling will be provided for students concerned about the safety of riding a bus, and administration has been open to talking with parents about their concerns.
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