Bus crash causes minor injuries to 22 students BY JESSICA SMITH Staff Writer MONROE - A collision between two township school buses Monday morning resulted in the injury of 22 students and one of the drivers. None of the injuries were considered serious, and by that evening, all involved had been released from area hospitals. "Thank God all our children are safe at home," Monroe Mayor Richard Pucci said at that evening's council meeting. "Certainly, if we look at the turn of events at this time, it's rather positive." At 9:01 a.m., a bus driven by John Lizzi, of Monroe, carrying 30 students, was traveling west on Buckelew Avenue when he stopped in front of a house to pick up students. The bus was then rear-ended by a second bus that was directly behind it. The second bus was driven by Barbara Medina, of Jamesburg, and had 33 students aboard. The buses were transporting students to the Barclay Brook School, which is for kindergarten to third-graders, and the Brookside School, which is for students from grades four to six. Emergency workers from Monroe, Spotswood, Jamesburg, Englishtown and Manalapan, as well as Middlesex County paramedics, responded and transported injured students to various area hospitals. Nine were taken to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick; seven were taken to CentraState Medical Center in Freehold Township; four to Raritan Bay Medical Center in Old Bridge; and two to Saint Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick. Medina was transported to Raritan Bay Medical Center. "It's very difficult when you have a multiple patient incident like that," township Business Administrator and former emergency worker Wayne Hamilton said. "I think kudos are in order for all who were on the scene." Superintendent of Schools Ralph Ferrie arrived at the scene shortly after the accident took place. "We had a lot of children who were upset," Ferrie said. "My position was to do everything I could to calm them down." Ferrie said he worked in conjunction with emergency responders on the scene, and spoke with parents who arrived there. Counselors, administrators and school nurses were dispatched to the four hospitals, as well as to Brookside School, to attend to students' physical and emotional requirements, Ferrie said. Some of them accompanied the children home on their buses. It was unclear whether all the students were wearing their seat belts, Ferrie said, though the buses are fully equipped with them. "Obviously, we encourage our students that they wear their seat belts when they are on our buses," Ferrie said. Ferrie said he and other school officials followed up with phone calls to parents on Tuesday. Police are conducting an investigation of the incident. "There are personnel issues that I can't comment on until we receive the outcome of the police investigation," Ferrie said. Township Deputy Clerk Patricia Reid's son Tyler, a sixth-grader at Brookside, was on one of the buses, and sustained injuries from the accident. She said when she first heard the news from co-workers that morning, there was confusion as to which buses were involved in the collision. "I wasn't sure if it was his bus," Reid said. "I just had a feeling that it was, I wasn't sure why. I was very panicked." Police Chief John Kraivec called Reid with the news about her son, who was removed from the bus on a stretcher with a backboard and neck brace, and was taken to Robert Wood Johnson, where he was X-rayed. Reid said Tyler complained of back, shoulder and neck pain from the accident. Though Tyler returned to school Tuesday, Reid said she drove him so he would not have to ride the bus.