CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Families impacted by a deadly school bus crash are demanding accountability from the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System, more than a month after the collision killed two students and injured several others.
Dash camera footage from March 27 shows Kenwood Middle School bus driver Sabrina Ducksworth drifting across the double yellow line and colliding with a dump truck in Carroll County. Twenty-four students were on board, heading to a class competition.
"It is the thing that replays in my mind every night when I go to sleep," said parent Suzy Butler, whose daughter was on the bus.
Two students — Zoe Davis and Arianna Pearson — were killed in the crash. Others were seriously hurt, including at least one student who was transported by emergency medical flight.
"We kept on asking ourselves if this was real or not. And most of us — we thought we were still dreaming, but sadly, it was the truth," said a student who was taken on an emergency medical flight.
Butler said the students on board had earned their place on the trip.
"You have to be selected for this class, and they were very proud of the work that they had done," Butler said.
Beyond the grief, families say they are also facing significant financial strain. Parent Diana McClain, whose son was on the bus, described the ongoing emotional impact.
"The stress, the tears, the anger, the anxiety it has caused us," McClain said.
A parent of Xaviel Lugo, who had a daughter on the bus and helped pull students from the wreckage, said families have received no financial help.
"Fifty-three days have now passed, and not one affected family has received assistance for the emergency medical care our children required that day," the parent said.
Impacted families, who now meet monthly, attended the school board meeting Tuesday night to press for answers.
"We're trying to pick up the pieces of what has happened. Our lives have been turned upside down. And we have a lot of questions, understandably. And we're trying to process how could this have happened and could this have been prevented?" Butler said.
McClain said families feel abandoned by the school system.
"We are here because the school has turned their back on us," McClain said.
In a statement, a Clarksville-Montgomery County School System spokesperson said the district remains focused on supporting students but is limited in what it can publicly address.
"School and district leaders remain focused on directly assisting families to ensure students' academic, social, and emotional needs are met at school. Tennessee Highway Patrol (THP) and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are actively investigating the accident, and CMCSS is fully cooperating with those agencies and must protect the integrity of their investigations. From my understanding, NTSB has publicly stated that the investigation will take 12 to 24 months to complete. Due to pending litigation and active state and federal investigations, we are unable to comment further at this time," the spokesperson said.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Patsy.Montesinos@NewsChannel5.com
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