Gateway Regional Superintendent Melissa Matarazzo
Reminder Publishing file photo
HUNTINGTON — Gateway Regional Superintendent Melissa Matarazzo provided an update and next steps regarding an incident on Jan. 20, in which a school bus delivering elementary school students in Chester went missing for approximately 90 minutes.
Matarazzo said approximately six students picked up by Bus #135 at Chester Elementary school had a frightening experience.
“After being picked up at Chester Elementary School, their bus driver suffered a medical issue that caused her to veer from her route and drive the students throughout the area for approximately 90 minutes. Students were not physically harmed, but were scared about the ride and what was happening around them,” she said in an incident report to Gateway families, students and staff following the incident.
Matarazzo said the first notification that something was wrong was communicated by a parent to Lecrenski Brothers Bus Company around 4 p.m. on Jan. 20, as her child had not arrived at home as scheduled.
Lecrenskis then attempted to contact the driver, but received no response. “Drivers who had finished their routes were deployed to drive Bus #135’s route to see if they could locate the bus. Additional parents called in to the bus company to report the absence of their children. The manager and other drivers continuously tried to reach the driver by cellphone and radio, with no response.”
Matarazzo said many families from Gateway who live in Chester also sent out individuals to search the bus route and attempt to locate the bus. “Unfortunately, many of these same parents tried to reach staff at Gateway to alert us, but there was no response to their phone call, as there were no people in the main offices of the school and district. District staff were still present in multiple locations, but not near the office phones,” she said.
Matarazzo said Lecrenskis’s notification to Gateway that the bus could not be located occurred at 4:24 p.m. “Soon after, I contacted 911 and began working with the State Police out of the Russell barracks to address the situation. Russell police went to the bus company to obtain additional information and support in the search. Once my interactions with the police were completed, I sent an email to all Bus #135 families to let them know that the bus would be late, as this was the only fact we could establish at that time. This was just after 5 p.m.,” she said.
Sometime between 5:15 and 5:20 p.m., the bus was located on the side of the road in Chester on Route 20. “We believe that the driver stopped the bus there to contact the company and let them know she was lost. Students remained on the bus until the police arrived, and police boarded the bus to reassure the students and to confirm that no one was physically hurt,” Matarazzo said.
By that time, some parents had arrived at the location of the bus, and a police officer dismissed three children to their families so they could get home safely and quickly. A second vehicle arrived from the bus company to take the remaining three students home, and local police followed the bus to ensure that all students were received by an adult at their homes.
Matarazzo said her message to the impacted families that their children had been found occurred at 5:34 p.m. “Emergency crews treated and transported the bus driver to the hospital. She will not serve as a bus driver for Gateway again,” she added.
The day after the incident on Jan. 21, Chester Elementary Principal Todd Gazda and counselors checked in with all students on the bus to help them process any fear and anxiety that was caused. If needed, additional support was also provided to individual students. Lecrenskis assigned a temporary driver and monitor to the bus and said they will identify a permanent driver soon.
In response to this incident, Matarazzo outlined three immediate next steps that the Gateway Regional District will take. The first is to identify and communicate a way for families to report emergency concerns after school hours.
“We may start with an approach we can quickly implement and then develop a more sustainable solution over time,” she said.
Another step will be to identify a bus tracking system and its cost.
School administration also plans to convene local police and the bus company to outline specific criteria and actions to take in the case of bus emergencies, including an efficient communication protocol to get information to affected families and staff.
“We know that these next actions cannot erase the fear and anxiety that this incident caused for our students and families, from those directly impacted to those of you who have heard about this event and developed concerns of your own,” Matarazzo said.
“Hopefully, this chronology of events shows our commitment to honesty and openness, and the next moves we make demonstrate that we will improve our systems and processes to serve you and our students better every day,” she added.
Matarazzo said that she has spoken with every family directly impacted by the incident and continues to communicate back to other individuals that contacted her with related concerns. “Please expect to receive that early next week. If you would like more information or have concerns to voice, please be in touch,” she said.
