A school bus carrying three elementary school students crashed head-on into a tree Monday morning in Sanford.

An adult bus monitor and three students – one 5-year-old and two 8-year-olds – were on the bus and were transported to the hospital as a precautionary measure, police said.

The driver, 69-year-old Carole Dearborn of Sanford, was transported to Southern Maine Healthcare Sanford for treatment of head and neck injuries. She was later transferred to Maine Medical Center in Portland, where she was listed in fair condition Monday night.

The children were all wearing seat belts, according to school officials. None of the children was injured and all were doing well Monday evening, according to school officials.

The crash of the small school bus occurred around 8 a.m. on Route 109 just south of the traffic circle, according to an email to parents from Superintendent David Theoharides. He said the students were examined by emergency room staff.

A section of Route 109 near the Mountain View Golf Range was closed after the crash.

The bus sustained major damage to the front end and was towed from the scene.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation by the Sanford Police Department.

According to state crash reports, Dearborn has been involved in two crashes since 2009. Both were minor accidents.

In May 2009, Dearborn was driving her personal vehicle when it rear-ended a sport utility vehicle that had stopped in traffic in Sanford.

In the second accident in June 2014, Dearborn was operating a school bus that had stopped in traffic to pick up students. The bus was hit by another vehicle, whose driver was backing it out of a driveway on Walkers Ridge Road in Sanford.

Gillian Graham can be contacted at 791-6315 or at:

ggraham@pressherald.com

Twitter: grahamgillian

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