WYKOFF, Minn. – Some Winona sixth-graders were so traumatized after their school bus wrecked Friday that they refused to climb aboard a second bus that was dispatched to take them 50 miles home to Winona. Instead vans were sent for students who spurned another bus ride. The students had crawled out of a rear door and roof hatches after the bus slid off a country road and rolled on its side. The students, mostly 12 years old, huddled roadside after the crash to await help with four chaperones and the driver. Injuries were minor. Ambulances took three children to a hospital to be checked over. Others were treated roadside by paramedics for bumps and bruises. The crash was about 10 a.m. By 2 o’clock, all the students were back at the Winona Middle School, which had been quickly converted into a reunification center for families to pick up their kids.
Processing and coping
A School District message to parents noted that the accident was a “traumatic and unsettling experience” both for students on the bus and for students on other buses who witnessed what happened. Parents were encouraged check in with their children throughout the weekend to see if they need help processing what happened. The message suggested visiting the National Association of School Psychologists website for tips.
Heavy-lifting. A wrecker designed to handle 18-wheelers pulled the disabled bus back to the right-of-way on 212th Street west of Preston. Image: Fillmore County sheriff
Bus company
The Winona School District owns no buses. For the Mystery Cave and Minneapolis Zoo field trips, buses and drivers were contracted from LaCrosse-based Ready Bus Company.
Middle school field trips
The field trip was an annual end-of-the-year outing for sixth-graders. Separately fifth-graders were on a field trip to Apple Valley and the Minnesota Zoo. Students carried their own lunches from home or had sack lunches from the school cafeteria.