Overview
- Five-year-old Simon Gonzalez was pronounced dead after being struck by a Bonny Eagle (MSAD 6) bus on Route 35 near Edna Libby Elementary in Standish, authorities said.
- Investigators from the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and Maine State Police impounded the bus and are conducting a full reconstruction; officials identified the driver as a 64-year-old woman.
- Edna Libby students were dismissed early Tuesday, the school offered counseling Wednesday and plans to reopen Thursday, and the district says standard protocol places involved employees on administrative leave with added staff riding buses.
- WMTW’s 8 Investigates reports 27 MSAD 6 bus crashes since 2016, with drivers found at fault in more than half, part of 1,135 school-bus crashes statewide since 2015.
- In Rockland, the family of 12-year-old Brayden Callahan filed a lawsuit against RSU 13 and driver Jeffrey Colburn; a crash report says the child was in a crosswalk when Colburn pulled into the street and struck him, and Colburn is no longer employed.