TUESDAY, OCTOBER 20, 1998
School bus rolls, hits utility pole
By Jefferson Wolfe
Staff Writer
A school bus rolled over Monday near Tiffin, sending seven kindergarteners and the driver to Tiffin Mercy Hospital.
All were treated and released.
The students were being taken home at noon from morning classes at Clinton Elementary School, said Denise Callihan, superintendent of the Tiffin City Schools.
The report stated the bus went off the right side of CR 15 near CR 50, striking a driveway, then went off the left side and rolled onto its side at about the same time it struck a telephone pole.
The bus driver, Gary K. Studer, 57, 440-C TR 1179, was cited with failure to control, said Lt. Rick Vitte, commander of the Fremont Post of the State Highway Patrol.
The injured students were: Andrea Castle, 5, 3322 E. CR 50; Douglas Fox, 5, 2251 E. CR 50; Kayleen Kuhn, 5, 4093 E. CR 50; Eric Larson, 5, 3716 E. CR 50; Nichole Perkins, 5, 3746 E. SR 18; Mindy Walland, 5, 604 W. CR 38; and Kevin Scherger, 6, 3638 E. CR 50.
''They were all minor injuries,'' Vitte said.
Callihan said the youngsters were all home by late Monday afternoon.
The school system began notifying parents immediately by telephone, Callihan said.
'We have what we call an emergency medical authorization card,'' she said. '''Most parents put two numbers down and an emergency number.''
The parents all were notified in time to meet their children at the hospital.
''It's ironic that it's National School Bus Safety Week, and we had an accident like this,'' Vitte said.
''And it does speak to the safety of school buses that they were all treated and released,'' Callihan said.
The bus in the accident was a 36-seat handicapped-accessible bus, she said. Some seats have safety belts, but they were not a factor in the accident.
''It's one of our newer buses,'' Callihan said. ''This is the second year it has been in operation.''
Clinton Fire Department, and Tiffin, Bascom, Bettsville and Republic EMS were called to the crash.
Callihan said rescue workers at the scene were very professional.
''The emergency crew did a wonderful job,'' Callihan said.
Studer, a former state highway patrol trooper, has been driving area school buses for the past four years. He was was a substitute for two years before becoming a regular driver.