A Cincinnati Public Schools student has died aboard a school bus operated by First Student, the company confirmed Thursday. Few details have been released about the circumstances of the death, including the student's age, school, or what led to the death that occurred during transit.
Company Confirms Death
First Student released a statement Thursday confirming the student's death occurred on one of its buses, as reported by FOX19. The report did not reproduce the statement's wording or provide additional details about what happened.
Cincinnati Public Schools had not released a statement addressing the death at the time of the report, according to FOX19. Neither the district nor the company has said whether the incident stemmed from a medical emergency, what the timeline of the driver's response was, or whether onboard video has been reviewed as part of the investigation.
A Major Student Transportation Provider
First Student describes itself as the largest student transportation provider in North America, according to First Student. In 2024, the district and First Student jointly secured $8.625 million in federal EPA Clean School Bus grants, according to Cincinnati Public Schools.
CPS transports students daily across yellow buses and public transit, per the district.
State Rules Require Emergency Training for Drivers
Ohio law sets specific requirements for how bus operators must handle medical emergencies that arise during transit. Under Ohio Administrative Code Rule 3301-83-15, every school bus owner in the state must adopt formal procedures for pupil medical emergencies, and no driver may operate a bus without completing mandated emergency training, according to Ohio Laws. It remains unknown whether those procedures were followed in this case, or what set the sequence of events in motion aboard the bus.
The death adds to a broader pattern of strain on Ohio's student transportation system. The number of active school bus drivers statewide fell from 25,706 before the pandemic to 18,817 by August 2025, even as average district transportation costs climbed to $1,273 per student in fiscal year 2026, Hoodline previously reported. The Ohio School Bus Safety Working Group also issued a statewide safety report in January 2024 that prompted the state to allocate $10 million in competitive grants for district bus safety upgrades, Hoodline has noted.
Student Transportation Safety Elsewhere in Ohio
Student transportation safety has drawn scrutiny elsewhere in southern Ohio; a school bus crash involving a Northwestern Local Schools bus killed an elementary student and injured 23 others after the bus was struck by an oncoming vehicle, according to Fox News.
The available reporting provides no further details on Thursday's death — including the cause, the student's identity, or the specific bus route involved — as the investigation continues.
