Maine
Elementary-aged student killed in school bus crash in southern Maine
A student was killed in a crash involving a school bus in southern Maine on Tuesday morning, officials say.
The crash occurred around 7:30 a.m. near Edna Libby Elementary School in Standish, authorities said, and MSAD 6 School Superintendent Clay Gleason told News Center Maine it involved a student and a school bus.
Cumberland County Sheriff Kevin Joyce confirmed that an elementary school student was struck by an MSAD 6 school bus and died at the scene. He said Route 35 was shut down between Route 114 and Moody Road for the crash investigation.
MSAD 6 serves the towns of Buxton, Hollis, Limington, Standish, and Frye Island. Standish is a town with about 11,000 residents about 15 miles west of Portland.
The child who died was a student at Edna Libby Elementary School, the school district said. Joyce said only one student was on the bus at the time of the crash — the half-brother of the student who was killed.
“The Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office, along with other law enforcement agencies, will be reconstructing the accident, providing more information as we get it,” Joyce said. “What we do know now is we have a child that’s deceased. It’s tough anytime of the year, but not a good time of the year for a lot of families.”
Gleason said Edna Libby Elementary School planned to dismiss students at 11:30 a.m. to allow parents or caregivers to be with their children and for staff to receive support. All after school activities in the district were canceled, though the school day went on as scheduled in all other district schools.
“I have been in communication with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office and a full investigation will be forthcoming to determine how this tragic accident took place,” Gleason said in a message to the school community. “In this difficult time please keep those directly impacted in your thoughts – first and foremost the family of the student, as well as the students and staff of Edna Libby. Speculation or blame on social media is not productive or helpful and is disrespectful to the memory of the student and their family.”
Support services are being provided for the bus driver and the family, Joyce said.
No additional information has been released, but officials said they expect to have more to say later in the day.
Two more Maine school districts are under investigation by the Trump administration for potential violations of his interpretation of Title IX.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order in February 2025 that seeks to bar transgender athletes from girls’ and women’s sports.
Supporters of Trump’s executive order argue it protects the integrity of women’s sports under Title IX, which a federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination.
Maine officials are adhering to the Maine Human Rights Act, a state law, which protects against discrimination based on gender identity.
The US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced investigations into 18 districts in 10 states, including RSUs 19 and 57 in Maine.
RSU 19 is in the Newport area and RSU 57 is in the Waterboro area.
The investigation stems from complaints issued to the Education Department that claim the districts are allowing transgender students to compete on athletic teams that match their gender identity and not their biological sex.
There’s still an active lawsuit against the state of Maine filed by the Justice Department last year, which claims the Maine Human Rights Act violates Title IX.
Similar cases from other states are also being heard this week by the Supreme Court.
The ruling from those cases could have wide-ranging impacts, including in Maine.
PORTLAND (WGME) — Driving this time of year, when winter weather hits, can be tricky, especially in Maine.
Fortunately, the Maine Turnpike Authority has above-ground weather sensors to keep them informed.
The above ground weather sensors help determine several different factors about the road conditions. (WGME)
“What they do is they capture a bunch of atmospheric and pavement data, temperature data and conditions. They take that information and take it to our vendor, Vaisala, and they process that data and put it here on the screen for us to use in our winter maintenance operations,” Maine Turnpike Authority Project Manager Brian Taddeo said.
These sensors can also tell the turnpike authority how well tires are gripping the road.
“So the grip factor is the measure of friction between the tire and the roadway. That’s really important for us because it tells us the pavement is dry, mobility is not impacted by weather, because there is none,” Taddeo said.
The above ground weather sensors help determine several different factors about the road conditions. (WGME)
The highest the grip factor goes to is 0.82, which would be on a dry road.
As the roads become icy, that number will drop.
“This system is also a predictive system, so it can actually show us what’s going to happen 12 hours from now, 24 hours from now, 72 hours from now,” Taddeo said.
This allows the Maine Turnpike Authority to plan in advance of an upcoming storm.
That’s important as they cover a stretch of interstate from Kittery all the way up to Augusta.
The MTA has cameras set up along the Turnpike to see what road conditions look like. (WGME)
“We have 109 miles of road to cover, and this gives us the chance to see everything all at once, so we can dispatch our crews to whatever zones need to be handled,” Taddeo said.
The MTA also has underground sensors that are used to collect road data.
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