Two SKSD buses in separate accidents on the same morning

Two South Kitsap School District buses were involved in unrelated minor accidents Friday morning, according to the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office.

Spokesman Scott Wilson said the first accident involved a school bus carrying 30 students en route to Burley-Glenwood Elementary School that apparently clipped a telephone pole and slid into a ditch on Oak Road between Bethel Burley Road and Madrona Road.

There were no injuries to the children, and the bus driver reported only a slight nick to a finger.

SKSD Assistant Director of Transportation Jan Harrison said the driver was given both a required blood-alcohol-level and drug test after the incident.

Spokeswoman Aimee Warthen said she could not release the results of the alcohol test because they are confidential.

She said the bus driver was on paid administrative leave pending the results of the investigation.

Warthen said every bus driver involved in an accident is also required to complete a driver re-training program.

Harrison said the drug test results were not available.

The second accident involved an empty school bus and a passenger car colliding at a stop sign on Olalla Valley Road and Forsman Road.

The bus sustained only minor damage to a tire, but the front end of the car was significantly damaged, Wilson said.

The driver of the car apparently told officers she thought the bus had its right turn signal on and would be turning right, so she pulled out into the intersection in an attempt to give the bus plenty of space to make the turn, but the bus did not turn and collided with the car.

The bus driver said the turn signal was not on.

Harrison said over the course of a normal school year the district may have only one or two bus accidents total.

“Our district is over 150 square miles and our bus drive over a million miles a year,” Harrison said. “We do not have accidents as a rule.”

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