Subscribe to the 100% free rdnewsNOW daily newsletter!
(Contributed by reader)
incident occurred march 18

No serious injuries, but school bus crash near Joffre sends students to hospital

Apr 2, 2024 | 5:02 PM

Wolf Creek Public Schools (WCPS) is confirming Tuesday that about two weeks ago, one of its school buses was involved in a crash.

The crash occurred the morning of March 18 when a WCPS bus collided with a Lacombe County truck parked in the roadway near Joffre, the division tells rdnewsNOW.

Superintendent Tim De Ruyck says EMS crews were called as part of division protocols and out of an abundance of caution to evaluate all who were on the bus, including students.

“There were no serious injuries reported. Communication was immediately sent to families of students who are riders of the bus, and alternate arrangements were made to transport students to school,” he says. “Two students were taken to hospital for further evaluation, but were released without serious injury.”

De Ruyck points out that Wolf Creek has nearly 90 bus routes, travelling close to 5,000 km each day, and more than 850,000 km yearly.

“The safety and wellbeing of students, whether at school or while transported on the bus, is WCPS’ top priority,” adds De Ruyck. “We treat all such incidents with the utmost concern and seriousness.”

The superintendent says he cannot speak too deeply on internal matters involving staff or investigations, but assures families that each incident is followed by stringent safety procedures.

“RCMP conducted and have concluded an investigation into the collision with no charges laid,” he says.

Safety procedures include remedial driver training, debriefs, evaluations and full investigations.

Subscribe to our FREE newsletter, and download the rdnewsNOW mobile app on Google Play and the Apple App Store for all the latest updates on this and other stories.