By TARA HETTINGER
Tara.Hettinger@newsandtribune.com
April 01, 2008 11:06 am
—
A 15-year-old boy is recovering after being run over by his school bus Monday morning.
The Jeffersonville High School student had his legs injured in the accident that happened at the intersection of Silk Tree Trail and Buckthorne Drive.
“The boy was walking to the bus and it started to pull away,” said Major Chuck Adams, with the Clark County Sheriff’s Department. “He ran after it and lost his footing, and the bus ran over his legs.”
Greater Clark County Schools Superintendent Tony Bennett said the bus driver, Linda Dorman — who has been a contract driver with the corporation for more than 30 years — did not realize what she had done and kept going with her route.
Police interviewed students on the bus who did witness the student trying to wave down the bus driver and fall. They said they felt a bump, but thought it was a backpack. They did not tell the driver what they saw until they arrived at JHS.
Dorman told police that she thought that bump was a pot hole, which police say are common in the area.
Dorman was administered a drug and alcohol test, which is required by the school corporation and the state. It will take a few weeks to receive those results.
A substitute will drive the route until Dorman’s status is cleared, said Erin Bojorquez, information service specialist for the corporation. Since Dorman is a contract driver, she will still be paid, but she will be responsible for finding and compensating the substitute.
Bennett said Dorman “has done a good job for us for many years.”
As for the child, Bennett said, “We will do everything we can to support the student with any type of rehabilitation or school work to make up.”
The boy, who was taken to Kosair Children’s Hospital in Louisville, has since been released, police said.
Officials don’t know for sure whether the student sustained any fractures from the accident.
“He is very lucky,” Adams said. “He had rear wheels of a school bus roll over him, which could have seriously injured or killed him.”
At this time, the accident is still under investigation, but charges are not expected against the driver, Adams said.
— Staff writer Stephanie Mojica contributed to this report
Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.