A Moretown school bus slid into a ditch Thursday morning, with the back end of the bus hanging over a drop off, requiring a full evacuation of all the students on board.
State police reported that the bus was travelling west on Moretown Common Road, going up a steep curved hill when the bus lost traction and slid backwards off the roadway.
Harwood Unified Union School District superintendent Brigid Nease said that although no schools in the region were closed or delayed, the amount of snowfall Thursday morning resulted in tough driving conditions for the district’s buses.
“Vermont roads were definitely at play today,” Nease said in an email.
Two Moretown buses got stuck on their morning routes, Nease said. The first had to wait for sand, and then was able to go on its way, Nease said, arriving to school a few minutes late.
Meanwhile the second stuck bus, Nease said, wasn’t rescued as easily.
At approximately 7:20 a.m., the driver called in to report that he had slid into a ditch. Vermont State Police and the fire department were subsequently dispatched because “the back end of the bus was reported to be hanging over a drop off area,” Nease wrote.
VSP controlled access to the scene and determined that all 24 students on the bus were safe, but needed to be evacuated to another bus, as per standard procedure.
At that point, a tow truck was dispatched, and emergency support staff determined that another bus should not continue to that location until it was sanded. The replacement bus waited at the Moretown store, and the students were transported by a state police cruiser to the waiting bus, Nease said.
Eight of the students were picked up by their parents, 11 were brought to Moretown and six were brought to Harwood. The students ultimately arrived at Moretown Elementary at 9:05 a.m. (which starts at 7:45) and Harwood Union High School at 9:15 a.m. (which starts at 8 a.m.), according to Nease.
After the students had left the scene, it took two tow trucks to extricate the bus, Nease said. State police reported that the bus’ undercarriage had gotten lodged in the edge of the roadway which prevented the vehicle from moving.
The bus’ drive shaft was touching the snow, Nease said, making it hard to remove. She noted that one of the tow trucks even slid into the ditch.
“The bus barn measured the tires and took a photo of the tread pattern,” Nease wrote. “The tires are snow rated and there are 22/32 tread depth on the inside of the outer dual wheel which is more than substantial. There does not appear to be any driver error.”
Nease reported that an initial message went out to parents that the bus was delayed, which she said was all they knew at the time. She said the Moretown and Harwood Union offices fielded parent questions as the details became known. One parent complained to VTDigger the district didn’t keep them well informed.
“We weren’t sure how long the process of transporting the students to another bus would take, not expecting that the second bus could not get to the scene,” Nease wrote.
Vermont State Police and Middlesex are continuing to investigate the incident.
