10 Injured in School Bus Rollover in Kane County

Big Rock, Ill. - A school bus flipped over in a field near Big Rock Friday morning, injuring nine students on board, six of them having special needs, and the driver, Kane County officials said.

All nine Krejci Academy students on board and the driver were transported to hospitals with non life-threatening injuries, officials said.

The crash occurred just after 8 a.m. Friday morning on Granart Road near Camp Dean Road, at students were on their way to school, forcing a long stretch of Granart Road to be closed for about three hours.

Kane County Sheriff’s Lt. Pat Gengler said the bus was eastbound on Granart when it left the roadway for an unknown reason in an area where the shoulder of the road is narrow and slants into a ditch. The speed limit in the area was 55 mph, police said.

The driver tried to adjust but couldn’t before the wheels went into the ditch, said Gengler. The bus tipped onto its side but didn’t completely roll over, he said.

All of the children in the bus were wearing seat belts, which probably kept them from being seriously injured, Gengler said. North American School Bus, which owns the bus, requires that everyone in its buses wear seat belts, according to Gengler.

He said passers-by helped get the children off the bus.

Six students were taken to Delnor Hospital in Geneva and the other three students and driver were taken to Provena Mercy Center in Aurora, but one student has since been released. That student said it was a scary experience.

“I’m feeling alright,” Aly Essery said after leaving the hospital. “I’m glad to be okay.”

The bus driver and an adult monitor were also hospitalized. None of the injuries will require an overnight stay and several of the kids went to school after leaving the hospital, a release from the Kane County Sheriff’s office said.

A Kane County sheriff lieutenant said all told, Friday’s outcome was lucky.

“A few of [the students] were autistic, which makes it scarier for the victims. It could have been a lot worse, but it should be okay,” Lt. Pat Gengler said.

Krejci Academy serves about 130 students, ages 4 to 21, who have autism or other emotional, behavioral or developmental disabilities, according to its website. It serves students from more than 50 school districts across Kane, Kendall, DuPage, Will, Cook, DeKalb and Grundy counties.

Police say most of the students were from the Sandwich area.

The crash remains under investigation and no citations have been issued, the sheriff’s office said.

Big Rock is in the southwest area of Kane County, west of Sugar Grove.

(The Sun-TImes Media Wire contributed to this report.)