West Orange School District Requests New Driver After Bus Incident

WEST ORANGE, NJ — No students were harmed – although some became “emotionally upset” – during an incident involving a school bus last week in West Orange, a district administrator says.

Acting School Superintendent Hayden Moore gave Patch a statement about the incident, which took place on April 26 and involved students from Mount Pleasant Elementary School:

“The incident has been taken very seriously from the onset of learning of the situation. I am happy to report that all students remained safe and unharmed during their travel time home from school last week. Unfortunately, the student drop off was delayed due to a wrong turn made by the driver, who is employed with the company contracted to transport our students. While the driver was turning the vehicle, he subsequently hit a pole, which resulted in no damage to the bus. Our principal has extended apologies to those students who became emotionally upset during the confusion. Once the driver began dropping students off, we learned that students were assisted by a parent and the West Orange Police Department, to whom we are very grateful.”

“As a result, we have requested a different driver and an aide on the school bus that is familiar with West Orange,” Moore said.

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