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Tears flowed at the campus of a Long Island high school Friday, just one day after a tragic upstate bus crash killed two beloved teachers and left five students critically injured.
A candlelight memorial burned outside Farmingdale High School as students — including teens in the ill-fated six-bus caravan to band camp in Pennsylvania — were back on campus for the first time.
One of the buses suddenly careened off I-84 in upstate New York shortly before 1:20 p.m. Thursday, killing band director Gina Pellettiere, a 43-year-old single mom, and Beatrice Ferrari, 77, a history teacher lovingly known as the “grandmother” of the marching band.
“Beatrice was a mom, a grandma, a friend, a wife,” one family friend said outside Ferrari’s home Friday. “She was a teacher for about 37 years, about 26 of those years were spent in Farmingdale.
“Everyone adored her — her students, her children,” she said. “As far as a teacher, she believed in all of her students and got them to be their fullest potential. She was honest and fair and the epitome of what a person should be.”
Ferrari often served as a chaperone on the marching band’s trips to camp or to state and county music competitions, according to Newsday.
This year’s trip turned tragic when the bus taking 40 band members from Farmingdale to Pine Valley Camp in Greeley, Pa., plunged off the highway near Waareened in Orange County and tumbled 50 feet in a ravine.
Gov. Kathy Hochul called it “a day of terror.”
Nassau County cops and school security officers kept reporters at bay as students and parents returned to the school for the first time since the tragedy. A sign erected next to six burning candles read, “We Love You So Much.”
Mom Manishe Patelout, who dropped off her 9th-grade son, questioned whether classes should have been canceled.
“But maybe it’s good for support,” she said.
Schools Superintendent Paul Defendini said in a letter to district parents counselors would be available at the school.
“We understand that each of us will grieve in our own way,” Defendini wrote. “I shared with our students earlier and our staff a few minutes ago that the best thing we can do is to give hugs and make sure each and every person in this community has the support they need.”
Farmingdale residents described both Ferrari and Pellettiere as devoted teachers who always tried to inspire their students.
“What’s going to become of our band?” student Lucas Castillo Marquez said in an interview with News 12.
“It’s been such a big part of my high school career,” he said as he tried to hold back tears. “For our director not to be here anymore, it’s never something I would expect.”
Farmingdale residents described both Pellettiere and Ferrari as devoted teachers who always tried to inspire their students.
Ferrari started her career in Brooklyn, then moved to Farmingdale, where her daughter, Dina Lopresto, said she would spend extra time with struggling students to get them to graduation.
In 2012, she was honored by the Town of Oyster Bay as a “Woman of Distinction.”
“She has affected the lives of thousands of young adults who went through Farmingdale High School, instilling many strong and positive qualities in each and every one of her students,” town officials said in a transcript from the ceremony.
“She not only encouraged her students to do their very best, but also mentored teachers who went through the district,” they said, noting that former students always greeted Ferrari with fondness and respect.
At home, Ferrari was known as the “glue of this family,” Lopresto said.
Pellettiere, meanwhile, “absolutely loved what she did,” said Jason Crachetti, who worked with her in the Huntington school district before she got the job in Farmingdale.
“It was obvious she loved what she did, and the kids loved her,” he told Newsday.
According to her biography on the website for Nassau-Suffolk Performing Arts, Pellettiere earned her bachelor of music degree in music education and her master’s degree in wind conducting from Long Island’s Hofstra University.
She was a member of several professional music educator associations, served as chairperson of Nassau All-County Division 5 Symphonic Band and was a guest conductor for both Nassau and Suffolk All-County Festivals.
Under her leadership at Farmingdale High School, its elite Level VI Wind Ensemble performed at the New York State School Music Association Large Organization Festival, and earned numerous honors from the organization.
Pellettiere was also a single mother.
“She was a great mom to Joseph — she always did stuff with him, took him everywhere,” one neighbor told News 12. “He’s been to more places than me.”
“I’m all shaken up hearing about this, it’s just devastating.”
The students were on their way to Pine Forest Camp in Greeley, Pa., which rents out facilities on its grounds, when the bus overturned.
The fatal wreck appeared to have been caused by “a faulty front tire,” Hochul said at a news conference Thursday night.
Photos from the scene show the hellish aftermath, with the bus on its side at the bottom of a slope surrounded by trees. First responders appeared to have used a ladder to climb to the side of the bus to assist victims.
Farmingdale High School made counselors and support staff available for students and staff throughout Friday.
On Friday afternoon, officials from the National Transit Safety Board arrived at the crash scene to conduct their own federal probe for the next five to seven days.
NTSB investigator John Humm told reporters the agency will investigate three different categories of factors in the crash:
- Vehicle factors, such as mechanical issues with bus or tires;
- Motorcarrier factors such as the driver and the bus company and how they complied with federal regulations;
- and survival factors like the “general crashworthiness of the bus” and the emergency response.
“Generally in a lot of accidents, there’s more than one cause, so there could be several factors that caused an accident like this,” Humm said.
“Our goal is to find out what happened, why it happened and to make safety recommendations to reduce the chance that this kind of accident happens again.”
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