Students get $63,000 in school suit

Two children aboard a school bus which overturned while taking them to school were awarded $63,000 in damages following a Monday trial that pitted them against the Warren County School System.

The students, Molly L. Lawrence and her brother, George Roller, were given the awards following trial in Circuit Court civil division in which their mother, Jenna Roller, had filed suit on their behalves shortly after the bus wreck back in 2004. Lawrence, who suffered a broken nose in the accident, received the lion?s share of the court award, getting $60,000 while her brother, also a passenger on the bus but basically uninjured in the wreck, received the other $3,000.

The crash which prompted the suit happened on the morning of April 27, 2004 on Williams Road, located along the DeKalb County line. Bus driver Amy LeBeau, a driver with the school system for about six years, said she looked away to ask a student to pick up a cooler which had overturned.

At that point the bus was entering a sharp curve and the front tires went over a steep embankment. The top-heavy nature of the bus then caused it to roll over, throwing some of the students to the opposite side of the bus.

A total of 12 of the 24 students went for treatment at River Park Hospital. None suffered critical injuries, with Lawrence being the worst injured of the passengers. Most of the students were bound for Dibrell Elementary.

Director of Schools Dr. Jerry Hale said he is glad the case has been resolved, adding Warren County school buses are safe to ride.