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Parents struggle to explain tragedy of Amy Beverland principal's death

Adults faced the grim prospect of breaking the news to their children who attend the Lawrence Township school.

Michael Anthony Adams
Multiple students were injured and the principal was killed Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2016, when a school bus jumped a curb at Amy Beverland Elementary School in Lawrence.

Aniyah Middlebrook knew some of what happened.

The 6-year-old girl knew there had been a bus crash, and that kids were involved, but it would be up to her mother to explain the most tragic part of the story: Her principal had been killed.

"I feel sad because of the kids," said Aniyah, who attends preschool. "It will hurt your feelings because kids are on the bus and people get crashed."

Susan Jordan, principal of Amy Beverland Elementary School, was killed when a school bus carrying about 25 students jumped a curb at the school around 2:45 p.m. Tuesday. Two 10-year-old students, who also were hit by the bus, were taken to Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health with non-life-threatening injuries. Police did not say why the bus jumped the curb, citing an ongoing investigation. The driver's name hasn't been released.

Beloved principal killed in bus crash pushed children from harm's way

The parking lot of a Marsh grocery store, across the street from the school, quickly filled up with media trucks and concerned parents after the crash. Police officers stood in the road between the lot and the school, directing traffic and ushering groups of children and their parents back and forth.

"It was craziness," said John Koklas, who had just picked up his son. Koklas told IndyStar that, although the school was trying its best to keep the grim details of the incident from kids, it didn't stop his son from asking questions when they got outside and saw the flashing red and blue lights.


"What's going on with all the police cars?" his son asked him. Koklas wasn't sure what to say. "Well, something bad happened at the school," he told him.

"He's only 6," Koklas told IndyStar. "He doesn't understand a lot of that."

Another parent, who had just buckled her daughter in the backseat of her car, said her first priority was getting her child home. The woman said she hadn't had a chance to break the news of the principal's death to her daughter and didn't want her to hear it from reporters. She wanted a chance to explain it to the girl on her own terms.

Erica Hankerson, walking to her car with her son, said she wasn't sure what she was going to tell him.

"He really hasn't said much," Hankerson said. "I really don't know if he knows a lot of information, but I did have two other kids that went through this school system. I mean, I love the school."

Aniyah Middlebrook, 6, said her feelings were hurt when she heard about the crash that killed her principal.

Hankerson said she knew Susan Jordan "quite well," and that the two had met just last week to talk about the ISTEP and IREAD exams.

"(Susan's death) is going to be a major loss for this school," she said.

Call IndyStar reporter Michael Anthony Adams at (317) 444-6123. Follow him on Twitter: @MichaelAdams317 and on Snapchat: @michael389.