Mount Olive Police Department

MOUNT OLIVE — Two Mount Olive High School students walking to school were injured and taken to the hospital after they were hit by a school bus as they crossed Corey Road on Thursday morning, May 17.

According to police, a 911 call about the incident was received at 7:02 a.m. Police responding to the scene interviewed several witnesses to the crash and determined that sun glare affected the school bus driver's vision, police said.

The two teenage students were transported to Morristown Medical Center for minor injuries sustained as a result of the crash. Both students are female. One is 15 years old, the other is 16.

The police department was assisted by the Flanders Fire Department and an ambulance from the Hackettstown Regional Medical Center.

No summonses were issued to the school bus driver, Catherine Tencza, 53, of Budd Lake.

Mount Olive Police Chief Mark Spitzer commented, “Accidents involving school buses and our children are the things parents dread hearing about most; thankfully, in this instance, it appears that the girls that were injured are going to be okay.”

“We are already looking into improvements that we can make at the intersection to avoid any further accidents but in this case it appears sun glare was the primary factor in the crash.

“Mayor Greenbaum has directed that the police department work collaboratively with Superintendent Larrie Reynolds and the School Board, as well as with our Road Department Director Tim Quinn, to come up with a safe solution to the problems we identify.”