crash_reports: 2100000437

On Wednesday, June 16, 2021 while assigned to Traffic unit N525, I responded to the front entrance of the Brown Middle School located at 125 Meadowbrook Road in Newton for a single vehicle crash involving a City of Newton contracted school bus. It was also reported by Newton Dispatch that one of the occupants on the bus had suffered an arm injury as a result of the crash. Meadowbrook Road is a public way maintained by the City of Newton. The road surface at the time of the crash was dry. The weather at the time of the crash was clear and sunny. When I arrived, I was updated by Officer Iarossi that the crash involved a City of Newton contracted school bus transporting students from the Williams School (141 Grove Street, Newton). The students were participating in "Step Up" day and were leaving Brown to go back to Williams. Officer Iarossi stated a student on the bus was injured as a result of the crash. Tegan Quirk was transported by Fallon Medics to Newton Wellesley Hospital with a right arm injury. The remaining students that were on the bus reported no injuries to staff at the time and were moved to another bus to be transported back to the Williams School. I asked the Brown staff that was assembled in front of the school to contact the Williams School and ask them to hold the children involved in the crash at the school once they arrived. I made this request so we could make sure there weren't any new injuries reported; and I wanted to inquire if any of the children witnessed the incident. The staff stated they would contact Williams and relay the request. I spoke with the operator of the school bus (MA BUN: BU44536), Mr. John Aubert (S48613114). Mr. Aubert stated he was operating bus #361 while transporting students from Brown Middle School to the Williams School. Mr. Aubert stated as he was preparing to leave Brown, he made an announcement to students on the bus to sit down. Mr. Aubert stated he got the okay to leave from one of the staff members on the bus. Mr. Aubert stated there was another bus parked in front of him prior to leaving. Mr. Aubert stated he began to reverse the bus to create distance from the bus in front of him, and then operated the bus forward to exit from his position on the right side of the road and merge into the travel lane to his left around the bus parked in front of him. Mr. Aubert stated as he merged onto the roadway, he heard screaming from the students on the bus and the rear passenger side of the bus made contact with a brick support column in front of the school positioned along the sidewalks edge next to the roadway. Mr. Aubert stated he exited the bus and observed a student's arm pinned on the rear passenger side of the bus between the side of the bus and the brick column. Mr. Aubert stated he got back in the bus and reversed it until the students arm was free. Mr. Aubert stated at this time, staff helped the injured student. The staff there helped facilitate transportation for the remaining students back to the Williams School. Mr. Aubert reported no injuries, but was concerned for the welfare of the student. After speaking with Mr. Aubert, I observed damage to the school bus and the brick support column as a result of the crash. I observed fresh damage (scrapes) to the rear passenger side of the school bus between the last passenger side window and the back of the bus. I also observed fresh damage to the brick support column. The column is a support to an overhead covering that runs from the sidewalk to the front entrance of the school. There was fresh paint transfer from the bus and a crack in the column. Pictures were taken of the damage and submitted to the IT Bureau. The travel lane where the crash took place is a one way access road that runs from Meadowbrook Road to the front of the school, and exits onto a parking lot between the Brown Middle School and the Oak Hill Middle School. I responded to the Williams School to follow up with staff there regarding this crash. All of the students that were involved in the crash had been released prior to my arrival. I spoke with the Principal of the Williams School, Ms. Ayesha Farag, Ms. Michal Shapiro (Social Worker), and Ms. Katie Costello (School Nurse) about the students on the bus. They stated no injuries were reported to them, and they notified the parents of the involved parties about the crash. They also provided me with contact information for all of the students on the bus at the time of the crash. I spoke with the three teachers that were on the bus at the time of the crash, Ms. Kimberly Andersen, Ms. Tess McLean, and Ms. Katherine O'Leary. All three teachers stated prior to the bus leaving Brown Middle School they accounted for all of the students and were ready to leave to travel back to the Williams School. One of the teachers recalled hearing the bus driver make an announcement to the bus that they were about to leave, but could not recall the exact wording of the announcement. The teachers stated as the bus began to move, they heard screaming from the rear of the bus, looked back, and saw a student's arm stuck outside the window. After realizing the student was injured, they assisted with helping to free the student from his pinned position. They helped the injured student until EMS arrived on scene. They assisted the remaining students by directing them away from the crash and onto another bus for transportation back to Williams. The three teachers reported no injuries as a result of the crash. I responded to the Newton Wellesley Hospital Pediatric Emergency Room to check on the status of the injured student, Tegan Quirk. I spoke with Tegan and his mother, Kathryn Quirk in his room. While attempting to talk to Tegan and his mother, Tegan became very upset and did not want to talk about the specifics of the crash. Out of courtesy for Tegan, I exited the room and spoke with his mother outside the room. I explained to Ms. Quirk the events of the crash, and how her son's arm became injured. I asked Ms. Quirk if she could assist me with faciliating a conversation with Tegan about the events of the crash. I explained to her I understood how traumatic the events of the crash were for her son, but as part of my investigation I would need to find out what led to Tegan's arm being outside the bus window at the time of the crash. While speaking to his mother, Tegan explained that he was waving to a friend with his arm out of the bus window when the bus started to move. Tegan stated his arm hit the column, and became stuck between the bus and the column. Tegan stated he was screaming for the bus to move and that it took forever for the bus to move so he could free his arm. Tegan stated the bus driver gave no warning to the students that the bus was going to start moving. The staff at Newton Wellesley Hospital stated Tegan has a right arm injury. The severity of the injury is unknown at this time due to further examination that needs to take place. I advised Ms. Quirk about the conversations I had with the other parties involved. I spoke with Mr. David Stickney (Head of Facilities) from the Newton Public Schools to try and obtain footage of the crash. Mr. Stickney stated unfortunately there is not footage of the crash from the Brown Middle School or Oak Hill Middle School surveillance cameras. I advised Ms. Regina Moody (Newton Public Schools Transportation Director) about the crash. Ms. Moody was able to show me footage of the incident from the camera inside the bus. In the footage, the bus driver can be heard announcing to the students prior to the bus moving, "Guys, guys, get off the seat and sit correctly". One of the teachers can be seen doing a count of the students. The teacher is heard saying to the student, "Everyone needs to be in a seat and sitting at 3 and 2 and 1 and thank you." Student are observed still standing up. The teacher is then heard saying, "sit down sit down." After the teacher passes the students in the back of the bus, she says, "We are good." to the front of the bus. Students are then observed standing after she passes. As the bus begins to back up, students can be observed standing in the rear of the bus and not sitting down on their seats. As the bus moves forward, a student (Tegan Quirk) can be seen standing on his seat and extending his right arm out of the last window on the passenger side of the bus. Screaming can then be heard as his arm makes contact with a support column on the passenger side of the bus. The bus is stopped, the driver exits the bus to asses what happend, gets back on the bus, and reverses the bus a short distance. The injured students right arm is released and he brings his arm back into the bus through the window. The amount of time between the students arm being pinned against the column to when it is released is approximately 40 seconds. After speaking with all parties involved and reviewing the footage from inside the bus, it appears that Bus #361 was pulling out of it's parked position in front of the Brown Middle School to enter the roadway and return students to the Williams School. A student that was sitting in the last row on the passenger side of the bus extended his right arm out of a window next to his seat to say goodbye to a friend. While his right arm was extended out of the rear passenger side window of the bus , the bus collided with a brick support column affixed to the sidewalk in front of the school. When the bus made contact with the column, the students right arm made contact with a brick support column and became pinned between the column and the passegner side of the bus. After the students arm was freed from it's pinned position, the student was able to bring his arm back into the school bus and was transported to Newton Wellesley Hospital for a right arm injury.