Bus drivers in Macomb School District 185 now have on-the-job expectations spelled out in writing.
The Board of Education gave unanimous approval to a transportation handbook, a book that Superintendent Patrick Twomey said is essential.
He said everything is spelled out in the handbook — even something that’s in state law, such as not using a phone while driving.
“You have to have that in writing, they have to agree to it, and they have to sign off on it. And that protects the district from a legal standpoint should an accident occur,” Twomey said.
He said the handbook grew out of a recent meeting between superintendents from the region and Schuyler-Industry District 5 Superintendent Beau Fretueg.
Fretueg explained how a fatal crash involving one of his district’s school buses nearly two years ago cost the district’s insurance company millions of dollars because their handbook did not spell out its do’s and don’ts regarding distracted driving.
Twomey said the meeting was an eye-opener for the Macomb district, which is in the first year of operating its own transportation system after decades of contracting out transit services.
“This was a good a-ha moment for us to say, oh, here’s an experience a neighboring district had, and we need to learn from that experience and get that handbook implemented,” Twomey said.
Twomey said his takeaway from that meeting was that the Macomb district needs to get a handbook in place right away, and after the school board meeting he said drivers would be asked to read the handbook and sign off on it immediately.
More than $10M in settlements awarded in Rushville crash
Signed settlement agreements in connection with the fatal bus crash show Schuyler-Industry District 5’s insurer agreed to pay more than $6.9 million in one case and more than $3.4 million in another.
Both signed agreements state the payments are a compromise of disputed claims and not an admission of liability.
The crash happened on the morning of March 11, 2024, when a school bus carrying three students – two three-year-olds and one five-year-old – crossed the center line and collided with a semi-truck in Rushville.
The bus driver, the truck driver, and the three students were killed.
The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet determined probable cause in the crash, and its investigation is ongoing.
Toxicology tests found no alcohol or illegal drugs in the bus driver’s system. Testing did detect several prescription medications, including some that can cause drowsiness.
Video recorded on a different bus in the days leading up to the crash shows the driver checking or using her phone while the bus was stopped at intersections or waiting in line at school, according to the NTSB investigation.
It also shows her taking her hands off the wheel while the bus was in motion to fill a water tumbler and retrieve items from her purse, reports show.
Investigators also examined the bus driver’s cellphone from the day of the crash, but it was too badly damaged to recover any data.
The NTSB’s role is to determine probable cause and issue safety recommendations, not to assign criminal or civil liability.
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