MAGOFFIN COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) — The mothers of two children injured in a serious November bus crash in Magoffin County have filed a lawsuit alleging negligence by the bus driver and school system.
Barbara Jenkins and Courtney Howard filed the lawsuit on Wednesday against the Magoffin County Board of Education and bus driver Wanda Bailey, according to court records.
The bus was carrying 18 students and the driver at the time of the crash, and everyone on board was injured. The bus driver and some of the students were hospitalized.
The lawsuit alleges that the school system did not use "due care" in selecting and training its bus drivers and that the school system failed to "enforce adequate policies and procedures relating to the safety of others."
The lawsuit accuses Bailey of driving the bus in a "negligent manner," causing the bus to go over the embankment.
"School buses should not run off the road and go over embankments and end up on their tops. We should never see the type of injuries, the severity of these injuries, with children," said Billy Johnson, the attorney representing the two families.
Johnson said the two girls had been released from the hospital, but have not yet returned to school.
"They're recovering from their injuries. They both have brain injuries. One of the little girls has skull fractures. She had brain bleeds. She was on a ventilator for almost a week," he said.
Donald McFarland, attorney for the Magoffin County Board of Education, said neither the Magoffin County Board of Education nor the Superintendent received any officially filed suit papers from any attorney.
In a statement, McFarland acknowledged that multiple lawsuits may be filed alleging negligence "on the part of almost anyone attached to the school system."
"The Magoffin County school system maintains that it properly trains, monitors, tests, and oversees all its employees, including bus drivers," said McFarland. "This bus crash was a devastating accident and was an extremely unfortunate event that was beyond the control of the Magoffin County School Board. The Superintendent and Board of Education have always and will always look after the safety, the education and the well-being of our students and we deeply regret that this tragic accident occurred."
