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WESTON, Conn. The Weston superintendent of schools was relieved Monday that a group of students on a bus damaged by a falling tree in Westport were safe and most were in class.
"It was mostly just Band-Aids in the morning," said Colleen Palmer, superintendent of schools. "When they first got off the bus, they weren't crying. They were mostly just anxious to get to school."
The accident happened Monday when three windows were shattered when a tree fell onto a bus carrying Weston Intermediate School and Hurlbutt Elementary School students. No serious injuries were reported. None of the eight students with minor cuts needed hospital treatment. One student reported being dizzy and light-headed, police said. All but one or two of the injured students went to class after the accident.
A total of 27 kids reported no injuries, and 28 students were transferred to another bus. Upon arriving at school, the students were evaluated by the nurse and their parents were asked to come to the school and check in with their kids. The nurse checked the students for glass in their cuts.
Westport and Weston emergency services responded to the accident, which occurred in Westport on Lyons Plain Road near Tuck Lane.
"The tree was leaning and gave way. It rolled across the top of the bus and punctured three of the windows," said Sgt. Matthew Brodacki of the Weston Police Department. He said the tree was about 2 feet in diameter, and the secondary branches hit the bus.
The tree must have moved before the bus passed, Brodacki said, because the road was blocked afterward. He said that if the tree had been where it was after it fell, the bus would have had more front-end damage.
"They had to cut the tree to get more vehicles into the area. The large tree was across almost the entire roadway," said Brodacki.
First Student's safety officer went to the scene to evaluate the scene."In the aftermath of all of the storms, we ask all drivers to be mindful," said Palmer. She said the moisture in the ground might have caused trees to shift. "We should all be mindful that trees are absolutely beautiful, but they can pose an issue of concern."
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