The family of 6-year-old Jenna Menias, who was killed Sept. 8 when she was struck by a school bus in Frankfort, has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210 and Frankfort School District 157-C, the family’s lawyers announced Friday.
Menias was a second-grade student at Grand Prairie Elementary School in District 157-C. The school bus involved in the accident was operated by District 210, which provides transportation for District 157-C and other school districts.
“There are two school districts that we believe exercised a conscious disregard for the safety of the children on this bus route for years,” said attorney Daniel Kirschner with Corboy & Demetrio, who is representing the family. “It culminated on this day.”
Prior to Menias’ death, Kirschner said, her mother had expressed concern to the school district that the bus drop-off procedures, which caused Menias to be dropped off alone, on the opposite side of Aberdeen Road and a substantial distance from her home, were unsafe.
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“Numerous residents have written to District 157-C to let them know that the way in which the route is performed, they do not feel is safe for their children,” Kirschner said. “Oftentimes children are let off quite a distance from their house, as was the case here. Children of a very young age, as was the case here.”
Menias was dropped off, Kirschner said, and was crossing in front of the school bus to go home when the bus resumed moving and she was struck.
“She does what she’s supposed to do, she goes wide around the front of the bus,” Kirschner said. “She’s a good 6 to 8 feet in front of the bus, if not more. Just as she starts to step in front of the extended stop arm, he retracts the stop arm, and starts to move the bus with Jenna directly in front of him.”
The driver that day was a substitute, Kirschner said. Video from inside the bus appeared to show the driver looking down at papers in his hand rather than up out of the windshield when Menias was hit, he said.
“Jenna was on the ground only six seconds before her bus ran her over,” Kirschner said. “That’s how quickly this bus driver wanted to get going.”
The accident could have been avoided if the bus driver had left the bus to escort Menias safely across the road, Kirschner said, or if the bus had simply stopped directly in front of Menias’ home.
“This was not a child who darted out, this is not a child who somehow got too close to the front so the driver couldn’t see her,” Kirschner said. “This is a 6-year-old girl who did everything right, and two school districts that did everything wrong.”
Frankfort police responded to the 500 block of Aberdeen Road and found Menias unresponsive as a result of serious injuries from the collision, police said. She was taken by ambulance to Olympia Fields Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the medical examiner’s office reported.
Kirschner said he hoped the lawsuit would cause light to be shed on policy failures he believes led to Menias’ death.
“How could this happen? Why did this happen? Who’s responsible?” Kirschner said. “And for God’s sake, how do we keep this from happening to another child?”
District 157-C said in a statement that it could not comment on pending litigation but that “the safety and well-being of our students remain a top priority.”
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“This accident was a tragedy, and our entire school community continues to be devastated by the loss of Jenna,” the district said in its statement.
District 210 also said that it could not comment on pending litigation.
“Lincoln-Way District 210 is devastated by this tragic accident, and we express our sincerest condolences to the family during this very difficult time,” District 210 said in a statement.