Last week Superintendent Sandy Prince had little to say about allegations that a bus driver who might been suicidal was allowed to drive his normal route.

“We did have a bus incident. We dealt with it quickly,” he said, declining to comment further.

By the weekend, more details were revealed in a statement that creates as many questions as it purports to answer.

Prince did not return phone calls this week seeking further clarification on the statement released this weekend.

The department says the driver told his supervisor he was resigning and then said he had “a gun in the woods,” according to the statement. A phone call drew the supervisor away and the driver left.

His supervisor searched for a replacement, and then could not find the driver, the statement said. The supervisor tried to contact the driver on the bus radio, which might have been turned off because the bus was getting filled with fuel.

After learning the driver was aboard the bus and on his run, the supervisor called the driver’s physician, then the Windham Police and Rescue departments. The driver was then met by police at an unspecified school and has not driven a school bus since.

Yet, the statement raises a number of questions. The first is about department policies in place regarding drivers who are not in a condition to drive safely. There’s no mention of any policies in the statement at all. What are they? How many substitute drivers are on hand in case of emergencies like this? How should supervisors expected to treat drivers who should not be behind the wheel?

That the driver’s radio might have been off while he filled the fuel tank is the clearest mention of department procedure. Was there only one attempt to reach the driver by radio? How did the supervisor learn the driver was on the road and did the supervisor try to reach him then?

The presented chain of events emphasizes the supervisor’s concern for the driver’s emotional condition, yet no second radio call appears to have been made. And why was a physician’s advice necessary before calling emergency personnel to intercept the bus? Calling a private doctor seems like a strange thing for a supervisor to do. Is that something that’s commonly done?

In conclusion, the statement said the Windham School Committee is satisfied the incident was properly handled. One member, Michael Duffy, said he is satisfied with the accuracy of the statement, but questioned how the incident was handled.

“If I was in that situation, I don’t think I would have picked up the phone,” Duffy said Wednesday, in reference to the supervisor answering a call that may have allowed the driver to leave the garage.

Duffy is not alone in his misgivings, as Windham Town Councilors Kaile Warren, Donna Chapman and Blaine Davis want a fuller explanation.

So should we all. Not simply to join the call for heads at the department to roll, but because the attempt by the Windham School Department to shed light on a frightening situation has left too much in the shadows.

David Harry, editor