The Eastern Pulaski school bus involved in last month’s fatal crash in Marshall County officially had its number retired by the school board Monday.
Superintendent Dan Foster told board members, “I had made mention of the fact, after the accident, that I didn’t want to use ‘Bus 16’ again, ever, while I’m here. And I talked to a couple people and had mentioned something to the board, and even board members thought that would be a pretty nice gesture.”
Foster said he brought up the idea of passing an official resolution to attorneys with the Indiana School Boards Association. “And they were like, it’s really a great idea because you don’t know how long you’ll be there, board members, the transportation director,” he explained, “and this kind of sets a record that, out of respect for all those involved in the entire situation, that it would just be an official resolution retiring the use of number 16 on any of our buses.” The school board passed the resolution unanimously.
Meanwhile, Foster said the eighth grader who died in the crash will soon be remembered with a memorial bench. “The eighth grade class has kind of banded together and wanted to place a memorial bench for Owen Abbott,” Foster said, “and very generously, I think it’s Star City Baseball that had enough funds that they are pretty much writing the check directly to Roudebush Company for the bench.”
Board members agreed to accept the donation of the bench. Foster said eighth graders will have the chance to contribute toward the installation costs. He said school officials will work with eighth grade representatives to determine the best location.
