Two school buses involved in minor crashes. Bus drivers question decision not to cancel classes.
Two Fayette County Public Schools buses were involved in minor crashes in Lexington Friday morning, according to Lexington police and a spokeswoman for the school district.
One accident took place at the intersection of Spurr Road and Greendale Road before 8 a.m. Friday. Police said a van was coming down a hill when it hit a slick spot, causing it to start spinning and hit a bus that was coming from the opposite direction.
Only the driver was on board the bus during the accident, per police. The drivers of the bus and van cited minor injuries.
The left side of the bus had a dent in it as a result of the collision.
A third vehicle also sustained damage near the scene of the accident after sliding into a ditch, according to police.
The roadway was shut down while officers cleared the scene. Officials have since come out and treated the road, police said.
A second collision took place at around the same time on New Circle Road and Paris Pike. The school district’s spokeswoman said a car bumped the back end of a bus.
No students were on board the bus and no injuries were reported, the spokeswoman said. Neither vehicle needed to be towed away.
A Facebook group page called FCPS Transportation Employees Matter publicly condemned the decision to hold in-person classes in Fayette County despite the slippery road conditions this morning. The author of the post said the decision put school bus drivers in harm’s way.
“This most recent example illustrates how outside pressure from other groups or factors drives the Superintendent to make risky decisions at the expense of Transportation Employees,” the post read.
“This unnecessary decision or lack of decision making may have harmful consequences for employees driving on dangerous roadways. We join together and demand better for Drivers, Monitors and all Transportation Employees.”
Fayette County Schools spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said in an email that district officials assessed road and sidewalk conditions throughout the county early Friday morning, and major roads were clear. She said that while there was some snow on neighborhood streets, city crews were salting.
“We made the determination that we could safely have school on a normal schedule, and that decision proved to be the correct one,” Deffendall wrote.
“We appreciate the skillsets of our bus drivers and note that the two minor accidents this morning were caused by other drivers. We are thankful that no students were on board and our drivers are safe.”
Deffendall said student and staff safety “is always our number one consideration when making decisions about snow days.
“A team of district employees monitors the weather forecasts and road conditions, and gathers information from meteorologists, the Lexington Division of Emergency Management, and the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Streets and Roads Division. Our weather team also drives different areas throughout the county, checking main streets, rural roads, and subdivisions. Before making a recommendation to the superintendent, they consider road and sidewalk conditions, precipitation, outdoor temperatures, wind chills, current conditions, and the forecast.”
This story was originally published January 28, 2022 at 9:58 AM.
