This story by Lisa Scagliotti was first published by the Waterbury Roundabout on May 15.
Updated 2:45 p.m.
Just after 8 a.m. Wednesday, a school bus transporting students to Crossett Brook Middle School and Harwood Union Middle/High School struck a student in Waterbury, sending the student to the hospital with serious injuries that were not life-threatening, according to state police.
The incident happened shortly after 8 a.m. near the intersection of Blush Hill Road and Kimberly Lane, according to Harwood Superintendent Mike Leichliter.
Vermont State Police so far have determined that bus driver, Bob Littletree, 77 of West Hartford, was headed south on Blush Hill Road at approximately 5 mph when a 12-year-old ran in front of the bus prior to the bus coming to a complete stop. The road was wet at the time, and there was morning fog present, according to police.
Waterbury Ambulance Service took the student to Central Vermont Medical Center to be evaluated for serious, but not life-threatening, injuries, according to police. In his message to families, Leichliter said the student was conscious when the ambulance arrived.
Approximately 15 students were on the bus at the time, and a second bus was dispatched to transfer them and take them to school, the superintendent said. Crossett Brook Middle School Co-Principal Duane Pierson headed to the hospital as well. The student attends Crossett Brook in Duxbury, Leichliter confirmed.
This area of Blush Hill Road was completely closed to traffic for approximately two and a half hours while investigators were at the scene, police said.
“Our thoughts are with this student and family,” the superintendent said.
Neither speed nor impairment are believed to be a factor in this crash, and the case is still under investigation, state police trooper Mae Murdock said in a press release.
Early Wednesday afternoon, Leichliter responded to an inquiry about the bus route for the afternoon and going forward. He said First Student, the bus contractor, would be following a protocol from the U.S. Department of Transportation that requires a driver be tested for alcohol and drugs within two hours after any type of accident. The driver is also put on leave pending the outcome of the investigation, he explained.
In the interim, First Student’s local manager at the Harwood Bus Barn Danial Sargeant will be handling the Bus 4 route, “until First Student reviews the results of the investigation and makes their further determinations,” the superintendent said.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misnamed the publication that reported it.
