Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy, 51, and Miranda Vargas, 10, killed in crash involving school bus and dump truck on Route 80 in Mount Olive, New Jersey

The bus was among a group of three transporting East Brook Middle School students to Waterloo Village, according to a note sent to parents by Thomas J. LoBue, the school principal. The other two buses were not involved in the crash. . 

There were 45 people, including 38 students, on the bus. Forty-three people from the bus and the truck driver were taken to three area hospitals, where some were listed in critical condition.   

The company's out-of-service rate -- essentially, how often vehicles are taken off the road as a result of inspections that uncover more serious violations -- is about 38 percent, records show, nearly double the national average of 21 percent.   

Kevin Kennedy released a statement late Thursday to News 12 New Jersey, hours after the crash on Interstate 80 in Mount Olive killed Jennifer Williamson-Kennedy and an unidentified student and injured dozens of others.

There were three school buses taking students from the same school on the field trip, sources said. Of the three buses, one missed the exit, video shows.

Miranda Vargas, a student at East Brook Middle School, was on one of three buses for a field trip to Waterloo Village, a restored 19th century canal town that is about a 45-mile trip west of the school.

The driver who was behind the wheel of the Paramus school bus involved in last week's fatal crash[1] had his license suspended 14 times over the last 43 years -- though most of the suspensions were due to parking tickets and administrative problems, state officials said.   

Hudy Muldrow Sr. of Woodland Park, N.J., was charged with two counts of death-by-auto, also known as vehicular homicide, accused of reckless driving that caused the deaths of fifth-grader Miranda Vargas, 10, and social-studies teacher Jennifer Williamson Kennedy, 51, both of Paramus, N.J.

Newly obtained documents appear to contradict the Paramus schools superintendent's claim that she had no idea that the driver in the deadly bus crash that killed a teacher and a student had a checkered driving record. 

The video from the May 17 crash shows the bus enter the highway and immediately cross three lanes, apparently heading for a spot where authorized vehicles such as police cars can make a U-turn.

As family members in the courtroom watched, Muldrow acknowledged recklessly “driving the bus sideways” across three lanes after missing the exit for Waterloo Village.