DUVAL COUNTY, Fla. \u2013 A San Pablo Elementary School parent took to the podium at Tuesday\u2019s Duval County School Board meeting to praise a kindergarten teacher who helped children escape last Thursday\u2019s school bus crash near the Jacksonville Zoo.<\/p>\n
Mandy Rubin, whose son was among the roughly 30 kindergarteners on board the bus when a semi-truck rear-ended it on Zoo Parkway, called out teacher Franz Lerch by name \u2014 crediting him with keeping her son calm and cutting him free from his seat during the chaotic moments after the crash.<\/p>\n
\u201cMr. Lerch, in an extreme moment of crisis, was calm and collected, keeping my child calm while he worked to cut him loose from his seat,\u201d Rubin said. <\/p>\n
Four kindergarten students injured in school bus crash on Zoo Parkway (Photo provided by Jo\u2019Quan Barnes)<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t imagine the pain Mr. Lerch and my son endured, not to mention the other children and families impacted that day. I ask that this board recognize and honor Mr. Lerch by any means possible. He\u2019s a hero in every sense of that word. I also know that he would not single himself out. I know that any teacher would have acted similarly, without thought for themselves. Because, to a public school teacher, any child is their child.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rubin\u2019s comments were met with a round of applause from those in attendance.<\/p>\n
Back of school bus crumpled in crash with semi on Zoo Parkway (Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n
Duval County Superintendent Dr. Christopher Bernier also acknowledged San Pablo Elementary School during his report at Tuesday night\u2019s school board meeting, recognizing the school\u2019s assistant principal for stepping up to help run the school while the principal went to the hospital following the crash.<\/p>\n
Four children were injured and taken to the hospital and the crash report notes a fifth person was also transported for their injuries. The injuries range from two broken legs to cuts to the head and chest pain. No updates have been released regarding the students\u2019 current conditions.<\/p>\n
Back of school bus crumpled in crash with semi on Zoo Parkway (Copyright 2026 by WJXT News4JAX – All rights reserved.)<\/p>\n