Eight students were injured in a school bus crash Monday in southeastern Wisconsin after a car struck the bus and sent it off the road. The injuries ranged from minor to serious, authorities said, but none were considered life-threatening.
The crash happened before 7:30 a.m. in Fredonia, according to the Ozaukee County Sheriff’s Office. The Random Lake School District bus was carrying 36 students, some of whom were elementary school age. The oldest were in high school, the sheriff’s office said. Ozaukee County includes Fredonia, a city about 30 miles north of Milwaukee and adjacent to Random Lake.
Sheriff’s deputies found the school bus lying on its passenger side in a ditch off the side of the road when they responded to the scene Monday morning, and a Jeep Grand Cherokee with significant front-end damage was stopped in the roadway. The sheriff’s office said investigators determined the car ran a stop sign while traveling east on County Trunk Highway East, striking the bus at an intersection as it was traveling north.
The sheriff said the collision caused the bus to spin 180 degrees and roll onto its side before sliding into a ditch. The bus driver, identified as Mark Hall, 53, of West Bend, who works for the Random Lake School District, was taken to a local hospital with minor injuries. So were the Jeep driver, Becka Stevenson, 32, and a passenger, Luis Vargas, 33, who both also suffered minor injuries after the crash.
The injured students were transported by ambulance to local hospitals and to Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee. Those who were not injured were evacuated through the roof and rear emergency exits of the school bus and picked up by their parents at the scene of the crash. The sheriff said some students were later taken to local hospitals by their parents as a precaution.
The sheriff’s office will issue Stevenson a citation for failing to yield at a stop sign, while further investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Earlier, the Random Lake School District shared a message on its Facebook page informing the community that “bus 17 was involved in an accident.”
“Students have been injured and are receiving medical treatment,” the district said. “All affected families have been contacted and the remaining students on the bus are being actively cared for by their parents. As more information becomes available, we will update families.”
The district said school counselors will be available to support students and their families.
