Canfield school-bus drivers charged in accident

By Elise Franco

The Canfield district’s probe should be finished in a week, the superintendent said.

CANFIELD — City police have charged two Canfield Local School District bus drivers involved in last week’s two-bus accident.

David A. Bell, 60, of Sleepy Hollow Drive, and Stephanie A. Ensley, 51, of Callahan Road, were charged Tuesday after they failed to report an accident between their buses about 8:30 a.m. Jan. 11 on Montgomery Drive, Police Chief Chuck Colucci said.

Bell is charged with improper backing and operating an unsafe vehicle, both minor misdemeanors, and falsification, a first-degree misdemeanor. Ensley was charged with operating an unsafe vehicle.

They will be in Mahoning County Area Court in Canfield at 9 a.m. Friday.

Colucci said Bell was backing up his bus to see if a child was at a stop he had passed on Montgomery when it collided with Ensley’s bus.

He persuaded Ensley, a part-time driver, to transport the children from his bus to Hilltop Elementary on her bus, Colucci said.

“Bell further advised that they would report the accident occurred in the parking lot of Hilltop Elementary,” he said.

Colucci said police weren’t informed of the accident until about 3 p.m. Jan. 11 when the mother of a third-grader on Bell’s bus called to file a police report.

“Bell and Ensley both made extremely poor decisions by not reporting the accident immediately to both the police and the appropriate school officials,” he said. “They acted without due regard to the safety of the children, respect to school policy and respect to local law enforcement.”

Bell is a full-time bus driver who has been with the district for 15 years. Neither he nor Ensley have any other citations.

The chief said Bell was worried he’d lose his driver’s license and shine a negative light on the school district.

“This was an isolated incident,” Colucci said. “Had he reported it right away, he probably wouldn’t have risked losing his license.”

Superintendent Dante Zambrini said both drivers are on paid administrative leave while the district conducts an internal investigation.

Zambrini said that investigation should be completed in about one week. The board of education will then review it and decide the best course.

He said parents should feel assured that the district is doing everything possible to make sure something like this doesn’t happen again.

“Part of the investigation is making sure we review all protocol and procedures,” he said. “In the 34 years I have been here ... we expect for employees to follow the procedures we have in place.”

Zambrini said the district is taking the incident and the investigation seriously.

“I can assure parents that the safety of their children is foremost, which is why I am taking extra time in this investigation,” he said.

Colucci also said parents shouldn’t assume this incident is typical of school-district employees.

“I don’t believe any parent needs to worry about the safety of their children,” he said. “This [incident] doesn’t represent all the bus drivers at Canfield schools.”

efranco@vindy.com