Principal Defends Delay In Notifying Parents of Accident Victims

CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — The principal of Nathaniel Alexander Elementary School defended his decision Thursday to delay notifying parents after two school buses collided, sending 18 students and two adults to the hospital.

Dozens of children wrapped in blankets lay on the ground while others were wheeled away on stretchers after buses No. 1415 and No. 305 collided Thursday afternoon on Neal Road in northeast Charlotte. A total of 78 people were on both buses at the time of the crash.

SLIDESHOW: 2 School Buses Crash On Neal Road

CHOPPER VIDEO: 2 School Buses Crash

All patients have minor, non-life-threatening injuries, Medic said.

Many frantic parents arriving at the scene said they got calls about about the crash but not directly from the school. One parent, Rob Hughes, said his wife called him about the accident.

"She didn't know what was going on so I just left work and came," said Hughes.

Lanitia Westbrook, another parent, was upset that she was not notified sooner.

"I needed to know as soon as the wreck happened that my child was in a wreck because she could have been seriously injured and I wouldn't have known nothing," said Westbrook.

Eyewitness News took their concerns straight to Mike Drye, the school's principal, and asked Drye to explain his thought process in not immediately sending out information versus going to the scene to see it for himself.

"I would have been sending out a ConnectEd to say something's happened and I don't know what it is," said Drye.

He said because the accident was within walking distance from the school, he chose to go check on his students. Drye said his first priority was to comfort his young students and allow Medic to give them the care that they needed. Drye said he and his staff then personally contacted the families of the 18 children who were taken to hospitals before sending out the ConnectEd message to all of the school's parents.

"We want parents to know that we value their children's safety just as much as they do," said Drye. "We're parents, too, but we wanted to be able to give them good information."

Administrators from the elementary school went to all three hospitals where students were treated. Drye said those administrators would stay at the hospitals until all students were discharged. Drye said he would meet with his staff Friday to discuss how the accident was handled.

Counselors will also be available at the school Friday for any students affected by the accident.

One student said a car made a U-turn in front of one bus, forcing the driver to brake suddenly. The second bus then ran into it, the student said.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said one of the bus drivers was cited for failure to reduce speed and failure to wear corrective lenses. She had a license restriction and was not wearing contact lenses or eyeglasses, police said.

WSOC