SCARBOROUGH – A Scarborough High School senior was killed Saturday night in an accident that also left a recent graduate in critical condition, school officials said Sunday.
Superintendent David Doyle said Stephen Delano was killed. His former classmate, Kevin Grondin, was in critical condition at Maine Medical Center but is expected to recover, Doyle said. Grondin graduated in January.
The boys and their dates — both Gorham High School students — were on their way to Gorham’s senior prom when their vehicle was hit by a tractor-trailer around 5:25 p.m.
Scarborough High will be open today, and grief counselors will be available throughout the day to any student who might need support.
Doyle said the boys were well-known. Several students visited Grondin at the hospital and went to the crash site.
“Every time we get to this point in the school year, you just hold your breath. It seems like there is always at least one tragedy like this in the state, and this year it was Scarborough,” Doyle said, referring to school prom season. “All indications are that the boys were doing nothing wrong.”
Scarborough High’s prom is June 5, and graduation ceremonies are scheduled for June 13.
Scarborough police said the students’ car was struck by a tractor-trailer at the intersection of Payne and Holmes roads. The truck pushed the car about 100 feet down the road and over an embankment. The car landed on its roof.
The truck driver was not injured, Scarborough police said. They would not release further details about what might have caused the crash or who was driving the students’ car.
All four students had to be transported to the hospital. The intersection was shut down for several hours.
“These guys (Delano and Grondin) were not doing anything wrong,” said Patricia Conant, Scarborough High’s principal for the past four years and a guidance counselor before that. “There were no drugs or alcohol involved. They were on their way to the Gorham High School prom,” she said.
Conant said it was her understanding that the boys had forgotten their prom tickets and had returned home to retrieve them before the accident.
Conant said Delano was an organ donor, and that his organs were expected to be harvested Sunday night.
She described Delano and Grondin as typical Maine boys who enjoyed trucks, hunting and fishing.
“(Delano) always had a mischievous grin on his face,” Conant said. “He was just a sweet young man.”
Delano’s older brother, Scott, graduated in 2008, Conant said. She remembered that Scott was a high school track star.
Scott Delano is stationed with the military in Afghanistan, and is expected to fly back to the United States as soon as possible to be with family members, she said.
Conant said she visited Grondin at the hospital. She said doctors expect him to recover from his facial injuries without any long-term effects.
The two girls suffered far less severe injuries. One of the girls sustained a broken collarbone and a sprained ankle. Their names were not available Sunday.
Members of the Scarborough Board of Education were notified of the accident Sunday afternoon by an e-mail from the superintendent.
Colleen Staszko, a board member, has a son who is a junior at the high school. She remembers seeing the Delano boys’ mother at soccer events, but never got to know her that well.
“My heart breaks for this family,” Staszko said. “I think it’s going to be a rough week for the kids at the high school.”
Doyle, the superintendent, said members of the high school crisis team met Sunday afternoon to review the accident and to make preparations for helping students deal with the tragedy today.
Although there are 1,100 students at Scarborough High, Doyle said it’s a close-knit school community.
“It’s a big school, but it’s a little school in many ways,” he said.
Staff Writer Dennis Hoey can be contacted at 791-6365 or at:
dhoey@pressherald.com
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