Police: Marlington school bus with 19 students overturns; no serious injuries

MARLBORO TWP. − A school bus carrying 19 Marlington High and Middle School students home overturned Monday afternoon into a ditch by Columbus Road NE, with some students and the driver suffering minor injuries, police and the Ohio State Highway Patrol said.

Marlboro Township Police Chief Ron Devies said no one was seriously hurt in the one-vehicle crash, which the patrol said took place around 2:37 p.m. He said the driver and some students experienced minor cuts and bruises.

Ambulances took five students to Akron Children's Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Mercy Hospital in Canton and Aultman Hospital in Canton. The patrol is investigating the circumstances behind the crash. One of the ambulances took the bus driver to Mercy to be treated for her minor injuries.

Police originally reported 22 students were on the bus. But the Marlington Local School District and the patrol later revised that number to 19 students.

Related: Driver hits Massillon City Schools bus, sends second vehicle into Lake Twp. home

The patrol said it later cited the school bus driver, a 58-year-old Lake Township woman, for failure to control a motor vehicle, listed as a 2019 IC Corporation school bus.

School officials' response

Marlington Local School District Supt. Dan Swisher said he was awaiting the patrol's findings and would also conduct his own investigation for the district. He said school officials would meet Tuesday to discuss if the district should change any of its transportation policies. Swisher said it was too early to discuss possible disciplinary action against the driver.

Swisher said the high school and middle school classes for the day ended at 2:35 p.m. He heard about the crash a few minutes later and rushed to the scene.

The accident took place about a two-minute drive west from the Marlington High School and Marlington Middle School campuses on Moulin Avenue NE.

The bus had been going west on Beeson Street. It made a left turn to go southwest onto Columbus Road NE where Beeson intersects Reeder Avenue NE. Devies said the driver, for reasons that are unclear, failed to negotiate the curve. The driver's speed is not yet known. The bus overturned off the right side of the road and rolled over onto its right side into a ditch. No other vehicles were involved.

Swisher said when he arrived at the scene, students were exiting the bus through its emergency back door and no one was trapped inside. He said the students ranged in age from about 12 to 18. The accident did not spark a fire or explosion.

The bus struck a stop sign and two construction signs. The bus was still on its right side as of 4 p.m., mostly off the right side of Columbus Road in a shallow, grassy ditch. Tow trucks from Marlboro Towing and Canton Towing later arrived to remove the vehicle.

Thirteen students released to parents

Swisher said other administrators from the high school and middle school also got to the crash site along with a school board member. They kept track of the five students taken by ambulance to a hospital and the 13 students who were released to their parents. The parents had gone to the site of the accident after their children called them.

Some parents chose to take their child to a hospital or doctor for treatment. One student was transported home by another school bus, Swisher said.

The superintendent said paramedics at the scene evaluated all of the students and the driver, who was the only school employee on the bus. He said the district made sure that all families of the 19 students were contacted.

Besides Marlboro Township police officers and Ohio Highway Patrol troopers, Stark County sheriff's deputies, including two serving Marlington as school resource officers, got to the crash site to assist as well as paramedics and firefighters from Marlboro Township Fire Department, Plain Township EMS, Hartville EMS, Nimishillen Township EMS and Emergency Medical Transport, the patrol said.

Swisher said Monday evening that those treated at a hospital or by a doctor had been released. None were staying overnight at the hospital. The superintendent said the district would continue to follow up with the families on their children's conditions.

"I'm glad all our students and staff are home with their families tonight," the superintendent said.

Swisher added that the school district sent out a recorded robocall to inform all parents of the accident. The school district's bus, which was insured, sustained major damage. Swisher said it was too early to talk about how much of the damage was covered by insurance.

Swisher said superintendents and school officials had contacted him offering the assistance of mental health counselors if they were needed. He said Marlington's transportation supervisor would drive the affected route for the time being starting Tuesday. The district has backup buses.

The crash occurred on the same day that the new Ohio School Bus Safety Working Group met for the first time. Gov. Mike DeWine created the group following the death of 11-year-old Aiden Clark, a Northwestern Local School District student killed last month when another vehicle collided with his school bus in Clark County.

The group is examining everything from risk factors in crashes to seat belts to driver licensing and training to school bus safety technology.

According to a study from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, there were 218 school-age children who died in school-transportation-related crashes nationwide between 2011 and 2020. Of those fatalities, 44 were occupants of school transportation vehicles, such as school buses. The rest were kids who were in other vehicles, walking or riding bicycles to school.

In fiscal year 2020, nearly 14,000 Ohio school buses transported more than 767,000 students, according to a 2022 introduction on the Ohio Department of Education School Bus Purchase Program website. The buses ranged in age from model year 1984 to 2021, with nearly 41% of school buses in regular use being more than eight years old.

Includes reporting by the Columbus Dispatch.

Reach Robert at robert.wang@cantonrep.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @rwangREP

Reach Benjamin at 330-580-8567 or ben.duer@cantonrep.com. On X (formerly Twitter): @bduerREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Marlington school bus with 19 students overturns