A 5-year-old kindergarten student was hit and killed by a school bus on Tuesday morning near Edna Libby Elementary School in Standish.
The student was identified as Simon Gonzalez by the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday afternoon.
The crash happened just before 8 a.m. during pick-up time in the area of 437 Northeast Road, near Route 114. The boy died at the scene after he was hit by the school bus, according to police.
This is the second fatal school bus crash involving a Maine student in the past month.
Police have released few details about what happened and have not identified the bus driver or said if they will face charges.
Bonny Eagle Superintendent Clay Gleason said in a statement that Edna Libby students were dismissed at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday to allow students, families and staff to receive support and meet with counselors. The school day continued as scheduled at other schools in MSAD 6, which includes Standish, Buxton, Hollis, Limington and Frye Island.
“In this difficult time please keep those directly impacted in your thoughts — first and foremost the family of the student, as well as the students and staff of Edna Libby,” Gleason said. “Speculation or blame on social media is not productive or helpful and is disrespectful to the memory of the student and their family.”
Sheriff Kevin Joyce confirmed Tuesday morning said there was one student on the bus when the crash occurred, the half brother of the child who died.
Northeast Road (Route 35) was shut down for several hours Tuesday morning between Route 114 and Moody Road because of the crash. It reopened around 11 a.m.
The crash is under investigation by the sheriff’s office with assistance from the Maine State Police Reconstruction Unit and Commercial Motor Vehicle Unit, according to a statement from Capt. Dean Fredericks.
On Nov. 21, Brayden Callahan, a 12-year-old student in Regional School Unit 13, died after he was hit by a school bus in Rockland.
A crash report says the boy was crossing in front of the bus when driver Jeffrey Colburn accelerated and ran over him. The report indicated that Colburn did not keep his eyes on the road when dropping the student off.
Colburn, 65, was placed on administrative leave while police investigated. Superintendent John McDonald later said Colburn no longer works for the district.
There were 480 crashes involving school buses in Maine between 2019 and 2023, according to a report from the Maine Department of Transportation.
Nationwide, there were 976 fatal school transportation-related crashes between 2013 and 2022, according to a report published last year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Those crashes killed 1,082 people, including 198 school-age children. Of those children, 76 were pedestrians, more than half of whom were between 5 and 10 years old, according to the report.
The Standish Parks and Recreation Department announced on Facebook that after school care for Edna Libby students was canceled Tuesday. All basketball practices were also called off.
Hollis Parks and Recreation, which serves children in MSAD 6, said in a social media post that all activities were canceled for the day because of the Standish crash.
“Right now, schedules and programs don’t matter — people do,” the social media post said.
“Please take a moment today to hug your children a little tighter and remind them how deeply they are loved,” it continued. “Life can change in an instant, and moments like this bring us back to what truly matters.”
Staff Writers Katie Langley and Drew Johnson contributed to this report.
