By Jennifer Tangeman
A crash involving a car and a Delphi school bus resulted in one death Thursday morning.
Kasey Schnepp, 40, Burlington, was southbound on U.S. 421 just south of 100 North when he lost control of his 1999 Ford Taurus on the snow-covered roadway and slid sideways into the path of Delphi school bus 18. Schnepp was pronounced dead at the scene by Carroll County Coroner J.D. Cree.
Schnepp was pastor of Burlington United Methodist Church.
The bus was northbound around 7:30 a.m. with 28 students on board.
Delphi High School principal Barry Stone said students of all grade levels were on board the bus.
“They are all fine,” Stone said. “We still have a couple at the hospital having X-rays and CAT scans done to be precautionary. So far, the worst injury we’ve heard of is a kid having a couple stitches.”
The bus driver, Tracey Bradshaw, and 11 of the students were taken to area hospitals with minor injuries.
Stone said feedback from the community regarding the crash was mixed.
“There’s people upset because of the decision of going to school,” the principal said. “And there are people that understand we have to make tough decisions. And all of the information we had said we should be going to school today. Every other school in the area did, too.”
He said others calling into the school were expressing their sympathies for Schnepp’s family and the unfortunate situation.
“It is a very tragic accident,” Stone said. “There are lots of thoughts and prayers and disappointment that we lost someone. It makes it really difficult.”
The principal said the school had guidance counselors and nurses on hand for the 17 students who went to school after the crash.
“The counselors talked with them about how they felt and helped contact their parents,” he said. “And we had nurses making sure no injuries were missed by the EMTs in all the commotion.”
As weather progressively got worse throughout the day, Delphi schools, like many others in the area, decided to send students home early. The students were let out at 12:30 p.m.
Stone said the school corporation wanted to express its condolences to Schnepp’s family.
“It’s a really tragic accident, and it’s disappointing that it happened,” he said, “but we want them to know we are thinking about them, and we hope they will be able to get through this.”
• Jennifer Tangeman is a reporter for the Pharos-Tribune. She can be reached at 574-732-5148 or jennifer.tangeman@pharostribune.com.
