Superintendent reacts to fatal school bus crash

As he left Midtown Medical Center with the knowledge that one of his bus drivers had died and seven of his students were being treated for injuries from the Monday morning crash, Muscogee County School District superintendent David Lewis summed up his feelings.

“Any time our school family is diminished by the loss of students, faculty or staff, it’s always difficult,” he said.

As soon as he arrived at his office, Lewis said, he was notified about the 7:44 a.m. crash on Garrett Road involving the Mathews Elementary School students.

“Due to the serious initial reports, I immediately went to my car and drove to the scene,” he said. “I was there talking to some of the parents who were obviously upset about their children, but fortunately they were very well composed and we had a lot of great first responders. I cannot speak highly enough about our first responders. There was a crack team that showed up there, and they were just tremendous in their expertise but also working with the families in obviously a very difficult situation.”

This story was originally published August 22, 2016 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Superintendent reacts to fatal school bus crash."