A kindergartener who died in an incident involving a school bus in Standish last month was dragged and ultimately run over after his arm was caught in the door of the bus, according to a federal report released Thursday.
The incident happened on Dec. 16, 2025, around 8 a.m. on North East Road, also known as Route 35, just a few blocks from Edna Libby Elementary School, where the kindergartener, Simon Gonzalez, attended.
At the bus stop, near Route 114, a 7-year-old student boarded the bus with the 5-year-old Gonzalez following behind, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.
As Gonzalez reached the passenger loading doors, the doors began to close. Gonzalez reached his left arm into the bus, and his arm was caught between the closing doors.
The bus driver, Lori Ann Merrifield, 64, started driving south on Route 35, and Gonzalez was dragged about 280 feet before his arm became dislodged from the door. He fell onto the road and was run over by the bus, according to the NTSB.
Gonzalez died at the scene.
It was the second time in less than a month that a school bus ran over a child in Maine.
On Nov. 21, 2025, an RSU 13 school bus driven by 65-year-old Jeffrey Colburn of Camden fatally struck 12-year-old Brayden Callahan while the child was in a crosswalk in Rockland. Coburn is no longer employed by the school district.
