2 students removed from suit against school district, bus company
Two students were removed from six others who claim they were injured in a March 6 bus crash in a lawsuit against the Mars Area School District and its bus company, A.J. Myers and Sons.
The two students who were severed from the suit in a June 23 order from Butler County Common Pleas Judge Kelley Streib were not aboard the bus that struck a tree in the 1600 block of Three Degree Road in Adams Township on March 6, but were on the bus during two other crashes when driver William “Bill” Miller was behind the wheel.
Seven of the elementary students and Miller were taken to hospitals with injuries. Miller later died.
The students and their parents filed a suit against the district and bus company March 27 alleging two counts of negligence against Myers and one count of negligence against the district.
Myers and the district filed a motion to sever the two students from the suit.
The suit claims those two students were aboard a bus on Sept. 6, 2023, when the driver allegedly rear-ended another bus while leaving Mars Area Centennial School and on Oct. 31, 2024, when the driver allegedly struck one or more mailboxes along Hammond Road in Middlesex Township.
One student suffered a finger injury in the Sept. 6 crash, and both allegedly suffer from psychological distress as a result of the incidents, according to the suit.
Six other students involved in the lawsuit also claim psychological distress after the March 6 crash, according to the lawsuit. According to the suit, the distress was compounded by the previous incidents.
Attorneys for the bus company and district said in their filing the incidents between the two groups of plaintiffs involve the same driver, but are otherwise unrelated. It said the three crashes should not be considered a series of events since they occurred over a period of 18 months.
The lawsuit alleges the district and transportation company showed negligence and negligent entrustment by allowing a driver with a history of crashes to transport students.
The attorney representing the students and parents could not be reached Monday for comment.
