OAKLAND -–A Messalonskee Middle School student was taken by ambulance to a Waterville hospital Friday after a bus ran over his foot.

Regional School Unit 18 Superintendent Gary Smith said school officials are investigating the accident, which occurred about 7:50 a.m. on School Bus Drive.

“The student had no broken bones — there was just severe bruising and presently he’s at home,” Smith said Friday afternoon.

The accident occurred after students got off the bus and the boy was retrieving a musical instrument from the storage bin under the bus, Smith said.

“The driver forgot to check this and started to depart and ran over the student’s foot,” Smith said. “The next bus driver saw the student on the sidewalk and reported it.”

Smith would not identify the student or the bus driver involved in the accident, but said that person is a veteran bus driver. Per the school district’s protocol for bus-related incidents, the driver was given a drug test and is on administrative leave until the test results are reported, he said.

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The school administration was notified of the accident immediately and school staff who are EMTs responded, Smith said. Middle School Principal Mark Hatch and school Transportation Director Lennie Goff also responded, as did Oakland Rescue, he said.

The child was taken by Delta Ambulance to MaineGeneral Medical Center’s Thayer Campus in Waterville.

Police are investigating the incident, police Capt. Rick Stubbert said.

The school safety committee decided Friday to discontinue use of the storage compartments under the buses on regular runs, Smith said. On extracurricular runs, only the bus driver will be authorized to put in or remove items from those compartments, he said.

Smith said that directive could change. “We just have to make sure we are doing things so students are always safe,” he said.

RSU 18 serves students from Oakland, Belgrade, Sidney, Rome and China.

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Messalonskee Middle School houses students in grades six through eight.

 

Amy Calder can be contacted at 861-9247 or at:

acalder@centralmaine.com

 


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