Middle Schoolers Call Parents from Scene of Overturned School Bus

Parents of Pikesville Middle School students knew almost immediately that their children's school bus crashed Friday morning, because students called them from cell phones.

Some parents were already at the scene when school officials arrived, said Diana Spencer, communications officer for Baltimore County Public Schools.

At about 7:40 a.m. Friday, a school bus turned onto its side, into a ravine on Greenspring Avenue near Hillside Road in Stevenson, Spencer said.

There were 10 Pikesville Middle School students on the bus, as well as the driver, she said. Five students and the driver "appeared" to have minor injuries, and were taken to hospitals.

All occupants of the bus were able to get out of the bus through the roof hatch, and were milling about when school officials arrived, she said.

"They were all walking and mobile. It didn't appear that there were any serious injuries. So we were very lucky," Spencer said.

The bus was a Woodlawn Motorcoach bus, one of the companies that BCPS contracts with, Spencer said. Woodlawn Motorcoach is headquartered in Catonsville.

The Baltimore County Police Department's Crash team is investigating the incident, according to a tweet by Baltimore County police and fire.

A cause is not known at this time, Spencer said.

Part of an investigation will include reviewing video from three cameras inside the bus, Spencer said. Two are pointed toward the rear of the bus, and one is pointed toward the driver.

In school bus crashes, as usual, the driver will undergo alcohol and drug testing, she said. Results of those toxicology reports are not yet available.

There are extra counselors at the school for any kids who were on the bus, and for anyone who had friends on the bus, Spencer said.

School buses do not have seat belts, she said. 

"Fire personnel conducted a thorough search of the bus and found no one trapped," according to a news release from police.

Before a tow truck pulled the bus from the ravine, an employee from the school system had crawled through the bus, she said. That person "got any belongings and has given them to Pikesville Middle School."

Some of the parents picked their children up at the scene, after receiving cell phone calls from their students, Spencer said. "Because so many of our students have cell phones on them, a lot of parents were notified (of the crash) by their students. A number of them indicated to their parents that they wanted to go to school."

Spencer said she is not certain how many of the students from the crash actually did go to school.

Read more about the Stevenson crash: 

5 Children, 1 Adult, Injured in Overturned School Bus

Patch Readers: Maryland School Buses Should Have Seatbelts

View photos from the scene on The Baltimore Sun website.

Editor's note: The original story listed the wrong number of students. We regret the error.