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Parents say district failed to follow bus‑accident protocols after January crash; board promises follow‑up
Summary
Parents told the board a Jan. 13 bus crash involving Penn students was not communicated properly and required safety protocols — calling 911, keeping students on buses, notifying families via ParentSquare and obtaining on‑scene medical evaluations — were not followed; administrators agreed to follow up.
Parents told the Penn‑Harris‑Madison board Monday that district transportation leadership failed to follow written accident‑response protocols after a Jan. 13 bus crash.
"My daughter came home from school and told me she had been involved in a bus crash," Liz Worthington told the board, saying the first district message she received was an anonymous email from info@easyrouting.com without an urgent subject line. Worthington said follow‑up calls, ParentSquare notifications and on‑scene medical evaluation were not done and that law enforcement and 911 were not contacted as the protocols require.
Liz Worthington asked the district to publish the incident details and the protocols so all families understand the required steps and any failures. Her husband, Dan Worthington, told the board the transportation supervisor told them the driver was fired. He said incident reports filed by the district marked 'no injuries' and questioned whether young students were adequately checked.
President Riley said the administration would have staff follow up with the family; the board asked for contact information and committed to asking staff to report back with findings. Chief Operating Officer Aaron Linsky and transportation staff acknowledged the public comments and the need to investigate and communicate more clearly about the incident and the district’s procedures.
The parents said they had used FOIA and multiple calls to obtain documentation and urged the board to be public about what happened and how it will be prevented in the future.
Provenance: parent testimony and subsequent board response (topicintro: SEG 2068; topfinish: SEG 2200).
