SCHOOL BUS CRASH REPORTS 2004

School bus crash kills 15-year-old girl in Palm Beach County
November 11, 2004

THE ACREAGE - A 15-year-old Royal Palm Beach High School student was killed Thursday when her school bus slammed into a pickup truck and rolled over several times, tossing its nine young passengers so fiercely that some of them wound up in a pile five deep.

A preliminary investigation indicated the bus driver ran a stop sign, according to a spokesman for the sheriff's department. Diane Kautz of Royal Palm Beach was dead at the scene of the 3:15 p.m. accident, her body covered by a yellow sheet on the grass near the intersection of Hall and Orange boulevards -- a chilling sight that sent parents racing to the scene for information when they saw it on television.

Five of the nine students on the bus went to area hospitals with minor injuries. The bus driver and the driver of the pickup were taken to St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach in critical condition.

The Acreage is a sprawling neighborhood near Royal Palm Beach and about 12 miles west of West Palm Beach.

The bus rolled over about six times before landing on its side, officials said. Its wheels spun in the air. The pickup spun around several times in a black blur. Its front and back ends were crushed.

Art Johnson, Palm Beach County school superintendent, called the accident a ''horrible tragedy'' Thursday. He said the district would wait until the investigation has been completed before commenting on whether the bus ran the stop sign.

''What we want is the truth,'' he said. ``If we find, ultimately, it's the fault of the school district, we'll take the appropriate action.''

The bus was carrying students from several schools in the area, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman Diane Carhart said. It had most recently picked up students from West Tech, an alternative high school in Belle Glade, before the crash.

BY SCOTT MCCABE

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