A Port Townsend School District bus went off the road on the morning of Thursday, Oct. 12, when its driver was unable to execute a turn, but both school district and law enforcement officials confirmed that none of the student passengers or other occupants of the bus were injured in any way.

According to Amy Khile, executive director of business, finance and operations for the Port Townsend School District, the school bus driver “made a miscalculation” on their intended turn, near the intersection of Hastings Avenue and Jacob Miller Road, “and ended up in the ditch” beside the road.

Khile reiterated that none of the 27 students on board were injured, adding that another school district bus was able to follow along shortly and safely transport those students to their school.

“All the students were safely removed from the existing bus,” Khile said. “The accident itself was a very slow-motion event, so the students and the bus weren’t even really jolted. Nor did the damage look all that bad, at least at a first glance, when the tower came for the bus.”

Khile hastened to add that any final determinations would be pending an official Washington State Patrol inspection and report, but some of the more sewerage damage that she noted from an initial, and admittedly incomplete, glimpse of the bus was damage to its bumper.

Detective Sgt. Brett Anglin, of the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, informed The Leader that his personnel received a call around 7:44 a.m. on Oct. 12 of a school bus going off the road, and he agreed with Khile that, by all indications, the bus was traveling at “a minimal rate of speed” as it attempted its turn.

“The driver was trying to turn around after missing their mark, when their wheels wound up in the ditch, and the bus itself effectively became high-centered,” Anglin said. “It seems like it was a simple mistake. Of course, this is all pending the completion of an investigation by the WSP Commercial Vehicle Division.”