SALEM Officials investigate crash involving buses

The drivers involved remain on regular duty while the accident is being scrutinized.
By NORMAN LEIGH
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
SALEM -- City school district officials are investigating a traffic accident in Akron earlier this month that involved two Salem school buses. The bus drivers apparently left the scene of the crash without reporting it to police.
Parental concern
Stephanie Ritchie of Perry Township, a parent of one of the nearly 70 fourth-graders in the two vehicles, raised questions at Tuesday's school board meeting about the matter and how it was handled.
Ritchie asked why the accident was not immediately reported to police and why more wasn't done to immediately notify the parents of the children involved.
She said she knew nothing about what occurred until her 9-year-old daughter told her after coming home from the May 7 field trip during which the crash took place.
No children were seriously injured.
School board members and schools Superintendent Dr. David Brobeck assured Ritchie that the accident and the way it was handled is being probed.
Brobeck said after the meeting that parents were sent a letter about the crash within a few days after it happened.
What happened
The accident occurred on Grant Street in Akron when one of the buses stopped suddenly and the other bus struck the back of it.
Brobeck said the drivers should have immediately notified Akron police, but they did not.
Left the scene
Instead, they left the scene and continued with the field trip, which was to see an Akron Aeros baseball game.
School officials are trying to determine why the accident wasn't immediately reported, Brobeck said.
One of the drivers apparently thought she had the approval of a supervisor to leave the accident scene without first calling police, Brobeck said, adding that he has yet to confirm that claim.
After the buses had returned to Salem on May 7, and school officials learned of the accident, the drivers were instructed to return to Akron and file an accident report.
Brobeck said he doesn't know if the drivers have been cited by police. He said he intends to contact Akron officials to learn more.
The drivers and any other school personnel that the district determines acted improperly could be subject to disciplinary action, Brobeck said.
Right now, the two drivers are on normal driving duty, he added.
Resignations
In other business Tuesday, the school board accepted the resignations of two longtime teachers, Donald Conser and Moira Lutsch.
Conser taught at the high school for 35 years. Moira has taught elementary school for 34 years.
Their retirements take effect at year's end.