Families were alerted to a wrong-way accident on the GHS freshman football team's bus

On Friday, Greenwich Schools Superintendent Dr. Toni Jones, GHS Principal Ralph Mayo and GHS Athletic Director Peter Georgiou wrote to the families of GHS freshman football players detailing what they described as a disturbing incident that occurred Thursday night on the team's bus returning from West Haven.

While they said they were grateful that there was no accident and everyone got home safely, they wrote that the driver briefly went in the wrong direction.

“Due to heavy traffic and a detour for construction on Interstate 95 in the Norwalk area, the bus driver had to re-enter the freeway but did so in the wrong direction,” they wrote.

The letter states that the administration learned that fortunately there was hardly any oncoming traffic at the time of the accident because the road was closed behind the highway work vehicles. In addition, witness statements revealed that the bus turned around and then drove off the ramp.

“We have made it very clear to the bus company, First Student, that this is extremely unacceptable and have demanded a full investigation, including a GPS review of the video footage from the bus,” the letter states. “We have insisted that this bus driver is not allowed to drive any of our long routes after school until the results of this investigation are available.”

The letter assured families that intensive retraining would be provided if the investigation found the report they received to be accurate.

They also called on the bus company to be proactive and provide additional training to its drivers to ensure that such incidents do not happen again.

They thanked the football coaches on the bus for their attention.

Last year, controversy arose after the administration responded to an incident in which a school bus driver drove very dangerously.

The deputy school inspector had herself witnessed the incident in North Street.

In April 2023, Dr. Ann Carabillo drove behind a school bus leaving North Street School that she said crossed the double yellow line more than 15 times and veered into the oncoming lane. The school district responded by banning a driver, Nadia Micourt, from transporting Greenwich students.

In response, all school bus drivers in Greenwich missed work and called in sick on the first day after April break, causing significant disruption to students and their families.

The district quickly sent emails, texts and automated calls to families at 6 a.m., but for many people that wasn't enough time.

The district explained that they could not fire a particular bus driver, only “disqualify” him. Jones explained at the time, “The contract is with First Student. It's not our union and it's not our employee.”

But the situation did not end with the disqualification.

Several bus drivers who are members of the AFL-CIO Transportation Workers Union Local 100 and their leaders showed up at a BOE meeting and left fliers disparaging Dr. Carabillo on the windshields of their cars. They testified during the public hearing that they considered the district's response draconian.

All drivers of the First School bus call in sick: No service for thousands of students
17 April 2023