Sixteen months before a Barrow County school bus overturned with 34 students aboard, the same driver was involved in another district-bus crash that began when her bus struck a stopped car, records obtained by 11Alive Investigates show.
The impact pushed the car into another school bus. A settlement demand stemming from that April 14, 2025, wreck says the driver received citations for following too closely and distracted driving. The available reporting does not identify the alleged distraction.
The driver later returned to transporting students for Barrow County Schools.
The Next Crash Sent Six Students to a Hospital
On Aug. 12, 2026, the bus left Georgia 211 near Raymond Drive while entering a slight curve. Its right-side wheels traveled off the pavement and onto a steep shoulder, according to a Georgia State Patrol crash report obtained by 11Alive.
The driver attempted to correct the bus but could not keep it from overturning. Six students between 14 and 16 reported injuries and were taken to a hospital. All six were later released.
WGTJ Radio and WSB Radio, both citing State Patrol, identified the driver as Nancy Peek, 64, of Winder. Peek was not injured and was cited for failure to maintain lane.
State Patrol said Peek could not explain why the bus left the roadway. She reportedly believed she might have been checking her mirrors when it happened.
The First Crash Produced Citations, Claims, and Settlements
The earlier collision happened on Matthews School Road. Video from inside the bus, provided to 11Alive by the family of an injured student, shows the moments surrounding the impact.
Legal claims reviewed by the station say Peek’s bus rear-ended the stopped vehicle and pushed it into another school bus.
The crash generated multiple claims against the district. 11Alive reported that one settlement was for $44,000. The settlement said the payment represented a compromise and was not an admission of liability.
A Barrow County Probate Court judge approved another settlement involving an injured minor in March 2026. The amount was redacted from the court order.
What happened inside the school system after that crash remains undisclosed.
The District Has Not Explained the Return-to-Duty Decision
11Alive asked Barrow County Schools whether Peek had been suspended, disciplined or retrained after the 2025 collision. The station also asked whether the district required an additional driving evaluation before she returned to transporting children.
The district did not provide case-specific answers.
Instead, Barrow County Schools confirmed that Peek is “no longer employed” and issued a general statement saying incidents involving students or employees are investigated and may result in a return to work or disciplinary action.
The statement did not say whether Peek resigned or was terminated. It did not identify who reviewed the first crash, what that review found or what conditions were imposed before she drove another student route.
Georgia Sets Minimum Training Requirements
Georgia’s school-bus-driver rule requires new drivers to complete at least 24 hours of approved training before transporting students. Drivers must also attend annual in-service training and safety programs, and school systems must report bus accidents to the state Department of Education.
The rule itself does not prescribe an automatic suspension, remedial course or new road test after every crash. Those statewide minimums therefore do not reveal what Barrow County required from Peek after the 2025 collision.
The District Is Actively Recruiting Drivers
Barrow County is currently advertising for school bus drivers. Its transportation department says it carries more than 15,000 students using over 200 buses on more than 300 routes, covering more than 4 million miles each year.
The district’s recruitment page advertises fully paid commercial-driver training, hourly pay ranging from $17.15 to $28.36 and what it calls an “award-winning Safety & Training Curriculum.”
That recruiting effort provides context for the size of the transportation operation. It does not establish that staffing needs influenced the decision to return Peek to a route after the first crash. The district has not said they did.
The public record now describes both collisions. It still does not describe the process that allowed the driver to return after the first one, who reviewed that decision or whether any additional safeguards were imposed before another bus carried students.