A 6-year-old girl was fatally struck by her school bus just seconds after stepping off to go home, according to a lawsuit filed by her family against the school district and the bus operator. Jenna Menias, a second grader at Grand Prairie Elementary School in Frankfort, Illinois, died on September 8 after being run over by the bus as she crossed in front of it.
The lawsuit alleges that years of “disregard for the safety of children on this bus route” contributed to the incident. Attorney Daniel Kirschner, representing the family, said multiple residents had complained about the route’s safety, including children being dropped off far from their homes. In Jenna’s case, she was allegedly let off a significant distance from her house, which Kirschner described as particularly dangerous for young children.
Police ruled the crash “preventable” and confirmed the driver was distracted at the time. A police report obtained by a local CBS affiliate shows the substitute driver was holding and reading a route map in one hand while operating the bus. Video evidence indicates he retracted the safety stop arm and began moving forward just six seconds after Jenna stepped off. The driver had only been licensed to operate a school bus for two months and was on the route for the first time.
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Jenna’s family had repeatedly requested that drivers drop children off at their driveways, but the district cited “route timing and efficiency requirements” as the reason for rejecting these requests. The lawsuit names both Frankfort School District 157-C and Lincoln-Way Community High School District 210, which operated the bus. Neither district has commented on the investigation beyond expressing condolences to the family.
The case remains under review by the National Transportation Safety Board, and police have not filed criminal charges, though a citation was issued. Kirschner called the incident “more than horrifying—it’s infuriating,” framing it as both a driver error and an institutional failure.
For families relying on school buses, this incident raises questions about how safety protocols are enforced when substitute drivers handle routes they’ve never driven before. The lack of immediate criminal charges, combined with the district’s refusal to adjust drop-off locations, suggests systemic issues may have contributed to the tragedy.
