New Farmingdale High School bus crash lawsuit alleges negligence in vetting and training

The father of a Farmingdale student injured in last fall’s band bus crash upstate is the latest to file a lawsuit, alleging the school district was negligent in vetting and training a transportation company and its driver in a crash that killed two educators and injured several high school students on their way to a marching band camp in Pennsylvania.

Juan Castillo and his lawyers filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of his son, whose name is redacted and referred to only by his initials in court documents. More than than a dozen families have filed lawsuits since the September accident in which a bus full of students and educators tumbled and flipped down a 50-foot ravine.

The lawsuit argues the school district is responsible for the child’s injuries, expected to be lifelong, and "mental anguish," court papers show.

The lawsuit names other defendants, including Nesconset-based bus company Regency Transportation and one of its drivers, Lisa Schaffer, of Centereach. It is at least the third suit filed against the district and now among almost 20 to come out of the crash — which occurred on Interstate 84 near upstate Wawayanda as band members and chaperones traveled to a weekend training camp.

Band director Gina Pellettiere, 43, and chaperone Beatrice Ferrari, 77, died at the site of the accident.

The most recent lawsuit accuses the defendants of carelessness and requests unspecified monetary compensation for previous and future medical care as well as other damages. It singles out Farmingdale's school district and Regency for their roles in hiring and training Schaffer, court documents show.

A Farmingdale schools representative would not discuss Castillo's suit. In February, school district Superintendent Paul Defendini told Newsday that the district, advised by its lawyers, could not "comment on particulars" in pending cases. Neither Schaffer nor Regency could be reached for comment.

There have been other lawsuits filed in connection with the crash. Earlier this month, Regency sued the state of New York, the University at Buffalo and Stony Brook University for canceling reservations late, arguing the entities were breaching their contracts with the transportation company in the fallout from the accident.

The National Transportation Safety Board has been investigating the crash. Representatives have said a full report could take one to two years to complete.

A preliminary description of the events leading to the crash by the NTSB said a Regency-operated 2014 Prevost bus planned to take 40 high school students and four adults from Farmingdale to band camp in Greeley, Pennsylvania, but crashed on a section of Interstate 84 in upstate Wawayanda on Sept. 21. The bus switched lanes, crossing to the left before leaving the westbound roadway. The bus struck a roadside cable barrier and rolled down a depressed earthen median.

According to the agency's description, the crash ejected several adults from the bus. Though it did not name Schaffer, it said the bus driver was "seriously injured." They did not identify the cause of the crash or assign blame.