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UPDATED: Alpena Public Schools apologizes after bus incident

News Photo by Barbara Woodham Students at Ella White Elementary School board bus 16A on Wednesday. School officials issued an apology Friday after the incident on that bus left two elementary students injured and caused students to arrive home as late as three hours after school was released on Thursday.

ALPENA — Alpena Public Schools issued an apology Friday for a busing incident that left two elementary students injured and caused students to arrive home as late as three hours after school was released on Thursday.

The district provided no information on the extent of the students’ injuries or how those injuries occurred. APS officials said they learned about the injuries after the students arrived home and a study of video footage from the bus did not immediately indicate how the injuries occurred.

Angelina Gibbs, the mother of one of the injured students, told The News on Friday that her daughter was diagnosed with a concussion Thursday night. It was unclear how Gibbs’ daughter was injured.

“It was extremely scary,” Gibbs said. “I didn’t know what happened, but not long after she got off the wrong bus route, I had to take her to the hospital.”

Gibbs said that her daughter was traumatized and she will be driving her to school from now on.

“I just don’t want this to happen to anyone else,” Gibbs said.

On Friday, APS Communications Director Lee Fitzpatrick indicated two students had been injured, but after significant study of video from the bus, how the injuries occured could not be immediately determined because the camera view was blocked by bus seats.

“Every injury to a child is significant,” Fitzpatrick said. “We have spoken to the families and they are both satisfied with where we are.”

APS Superintendent Dave Rabbideau said in a press release Friday some students from Ella White Elementary School experienced a distressing multi-hour trip home from school when a new bus driver — who was unfamiliar with the route — had difficulty locating drop-off locations, became increasingly disoriented, and had to return to Ella White.

After the bus, bus 16A, returned to the school, a parent tried to force their way on board, which heightened the anxiety on the bus.

“To add to the distress of our students, a parent tried to gain entrance to the bus while it was parked at Ella White,” Rabbideau said in the press release. “The bus driver tried to alert the parent of the requirement to verify who they are before taking a child, but the parent continued to pound on the door, entered, and took their child.”

The driver radioed for support from the transportation department, and, once the support arrived at Ella White, the driver completed the route, dropping the last student off approximately three hours after the school’s dismissal time, according to the press release.

As word spread about the incident, rumors and speculation spread on social media and nearly 200 comments were written in response to a Facebook post about the incident from the school district.

Some comments suggested fireworks were set off on the bus and that caused the students’ injuries.

Rabbideau shot down the rumors that the incident involved an explosion.

“Nothing could be further from the truth,” Rabbideau said. “There was a new driver on a new route and the students were on the bus for a long time.”

The father of the other injured student, Robert Centala, told The News Friday his daughter is ok after she bumped her glasses, which cut her nose.

Centala said he felt bad for the bus driver who, Centala said, was only doing her best on her first time on the most difficult bus route the school has because it is a double route.

He said the driver was trying to do her best and follow protocol with a bus full of kids. Centala said he met with school officials and he was satisfied with their response.

“That would be a lot of pressure for most people,” Centala said. “I know it is very hard to find people to work right now and it is a constant struggle to keep busing as a viable option.”

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