No students hurt in Stoddard County bus wreck

DEXTER, Mo. -- Sixteen students were aboard a Dexter school bus that failed to yield and struck a passenger car at Route H and County Road 659 just after 7 a.m. Thursday. No one was seriously injured.

Bus driver Jayne James of Dexter was not charged but an investigation continues into the circumstances, said Missouri State Highway Patrol spokesman Clark Parrott.

The patrol responded to the wreck after another driver who arrived on the scene called 911.

The patrol reported the school bus was northbound on County Road 659 when it failed to yield for a westbound vehicle, a 2013 Chevrolet Equinox driven by Jacqueline K. Coleman, 56, also of Dexter.

Coleman had minor injuries and was taken by ambulance to SoutheastHEALTH in Dexter.

James, 56, has driven for the Dexter school district since 2005. She was a substitute driver before that.

A second school bus was dispatched to the scene shortly after the accident and it transported the students to their respective campuses.

"When the students safely arrived at their school building, school nurses were available to examine the students for precautionary measures, as well," said Dexter superintendent Thomas Sharp.

Parents of students were notified and they were encouraged to contact their children's schools to speak with their child and/or the school nurse, he said.

James was subjected to mandatory drug and alcohol testing and will not return to duty until those results are received and no violation detected, Sharp said.

Pertinent address:

Dexter, MO