A White Hall School District bus spun off a road near Redfield while transporting students to school on a delayed start Thursday.
Superintendent Gary Williams said the bus was attempting to turn around on a hill in the area of River Road near Tar Camp. The bus started to spin and turn on the side of the road at low speed, he added.
No injuries or damage to the bus occurred as a result, Williams said. The bus continued to transport the students to school.
“It was on an icy patch of the road, and gravity started to pull it off the side of the road,” Williams said, citing information from the transportation director. “There was some decline on the side of the road, but it wasn’t traveling down the road and lost control.”
White Hall was the only school district in Jefferson County to reopen its campuses Thursday. All three of the county’s districts were closed Wednesday due to overnight freezing that led to icy road conditions.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
“We had identified snow routes,” Williams said, explaining the decision to reopen school. “On this one, there was some communication issues as to where (the bus) should have been. It should have been at a different location.”
The WHSD uses snow routes, which gives bus drivers alternate paths on roads not covered in ice, Williams explained.
“The bus goes to a safe location, and the parents transport them to that location where the bus is positioned and they drive back,” he continued. “They’re on roads that are pretty clear. In this case, it went down a road it shouldn’t have been on.”
It was not clear if any authorities responded to the matter. A recipient for Redfield police said the incident occurred outside city limits and referred questions to the Jefferson County sheriff’s office. Sheriff’s Maj. John Bean said he did not have any information.