Town Mourns Band Bus Crash Victims

A high school band director known for making band fun was among five people killed when a busload of students and chaperones returning from a marching band competition crashed into an overturned tractor-trailer on Sunday, authorities said.

Band director Douglas Greenhalgh, 48, his wife Therese, 51, and their 11-year-old granddaughter, Morgan Greenhalgh, were killed, along with bus driver Paul Rasmus, 78, of Chippewa Falls, and Brandon Atherton, a 24-year-old student teacher, authorities said.

Twenty-nine others were injured, some seriously, troopers said.

"He was a really good teacher. We always had fun in his classroom," said Tania Richter, 17, a clarinet player who was sleeping on the floor toward the back of the bus when it crashed. "We're going to truly miss him."

The community held a candlelight vigil at the school Sunday night, reports CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella.

Classes were resuming Monday, with counselors and pastors available for students who wanted to talk to them.

"We know it is not going to be a normal day. It is not going to be a normal week and, for some students, it will no longer be a normal year," Chippewa Falls school superintendent Michael Schoch said.

Shoch was riding on the third of the four buses.

"I don't know if you can ever prepare kids or parents or anyone for this kind of a tragedy and how to respond to it," Shoch told CBS News Early Show anchor René Syler.

The superintendent said at a news conference Monday before classes began that Greenhalgh had taught at the school more than 20 years.

"He has created a program that is second to none. He made, like most teachers do, lasting connections with kids. He will be hard to replace, impossible to replace," Schoch said.

The superintendent said a search will start almost immediately to find substitute teachers for the band program and a permanent replacement for Greenhalgh.

"It is going to be really hard for somebody to come in and fill those shoes," he said.

The accident occurred at around 2 a.m. Sunday when the bus crashed into an overturned semi truck, which had rolled over and jackknifed on Interstate 94, blocking both westbound lanes about five miles northwest of Osseo, said Capt. Douglas Notbohm of the Wisconsin State Patrol.

"I don't know how much opportunity there was for braking action," Notbohm said.

"I don't believe there was much time for the bus driver to react to a total, dynamic lane closure in front of him."

Schoch defended the 78-year-old driver, Paul Rasmus.

"He was very fit. And his age wouldn't have had anything to do with it," he said on The Early Show.

All of the windows on the bus were knocked out in the crash.
Nearly everyone was sleeping and was happy that the band's routine, "Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves" had placed third in the competition Saturday in Class AAAA at the Wisconsin School Music Association State Marching Band Championships in Whitewater, Richter said.

Schoch said the band had stayed Friday night in Whitewater and noted it was common to return late Saturday so everyone could be home on Sunday.

"It's a terrific tragedy and loss to our school and community," Schoch said. "Our community is stunned by it."

Richter's stepfather David Bhend said there were always quality concerts and quality performances under Greenhalgh's leadership.

"He shared a great gift with a lot of people," Bhend said. "The gift of music and personal growth. He made these kids find themselves and got them to do the best that they can."

Bhend said members of the music program under Greenhalgh had taken many trips over the years, including to New York and New Orleans.

At least 400 students and parents met at the school of about 1,500 students Sunday to get information on the accident. Counselors and clergy would be available "to address their spiritual needs," Schoch said.

"Our student body has handled this fantastically, just showing maturity," he said.

The injured were taken to at least four different hospitals with injuries ranging from serious to non-life threatening, Notbohm said.

Two students, including an 11-year-old friend of the band director's granddaughter, and four adults, including assistant band director Brian Collicott, who sustained multiple broken bones and a spinal injury, remained hospitalized Monday, Schoch said.

Those hospitalized had injuries such as broken hips, arms and legs and punctured lungs, the superintendent said. Many had undergone surgery, but all are expected to recover, he said. Other students with minor injuries were treated and sent home.

"They were keeping us away from the front of the bus because it was really bad," said Richter.

Atherton was a native of Waukesha and a student at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and had been student teaching at the high school this fall after helping with marching band program the last two summers.

Schoch said the bus was one of four carrying about 200 students and 40 adult teachers and chaperones. Notbohm said the bus involved in the crash had a capacity of 53 but he did not know how many were actually on the vehicle.

The semi driver employed by Whole Foods Market Group of Munster, Ind., was en route from Indiana to the Twin Cities, Notbohm said, adding that the semi driver was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries.

Patrol spokesman Brent Pickard said the skies were clear and the road was dry at the time of the crash.

It was not known what caused the truck to go off the road, but the driver told investigators at the scene that he had not fallen asleep, Notbohm said.

"We haven't ruled out anything as it relates to the (semi) driver's situation."

The National Transportation Safety Board will be involved in the investigation, he said.