Fraser principal dies in accident

GRAND COUNTY — Fraser Valley Elementary School principal Reba Ferguson was killed Tuesday in a traffic accident on U.S. Highway 40 between Tabernash and the top of Red Dirt Hill.

According to the Granby office of the Colorado State Patrol, the accident that claimed the 44-year-old Fraser resident’s life took place about 8:35 a.m. Road conditions were described as “snowpacked and icy with sand treatment on the road.”

Driving a Nissan Pathfinder, Ferguson lost control on a slippery section of roadway about two miles west of Tabernash. The State Patrol said her vehicle “rotated counterclockwise and traveled into the eastbound lane” of Highway 40 where it collided with a Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by 35-year-old Victor Ruiz of Granby.

The impact of the collision resulted in both vehicles coming to rest facing south on the shoulder of the eastbound lane. Both drivers were reported to have been wearing seatbelts.

Ferguson was pronounced dead at the scene. An Air Life helicopter airlifted Ruiz to Denver General Hospital. His condition is not known at this time, but Sgt. Gary Meirose of the Granby office of the State Patrol said he is expected to survive.

According to school district staff members, Ferguson was on her way to a 9 a.m. meeting at the East Grand District Office in Granby to discuss this summer’s construction plans for Fraser Valley Elementary when the accident occurred. She has been the Fraser school’s principal for the past seven years.

Superintendent Robb Rankin expressed the district’s grief for the loss of a friend and colleague, saying that “Reba will be sorely missed.”

After learning of the Ferguson’s fatal accident Tuesday morning, the East Grand School District reacted immediately to provide comfort and support to Fraser Valley Elementary. Rankin and Nancy Karas, the East Grand Middle School principal and next superintendent, both drove to the school that morning to talk with staff and students.

“The teachers at Fraser Valley Elementary were incredible, dealing with their own grief while continuing to work with the kids,” Rankin said. “Many of the teachers’ emotions were hanging by a thread, but they never let go of their students.”

Also arriving at the school to provide help grief counseling and emotional support were two counselors, Ellen Auchincloss, a Colorado West Mental Health counselor and former school district teacher, and Clarise McGowan, a retired East Grand Middle School counselor.

Parents of Fraser Valley Elementary students were informed of the tragedy and given the option of picking up their children early from the school Tuesday.

Ferguson’s tragic death follows only a week after the announcement that she would be leaving her principal’s job to become the director of student achievement for the East Grand Schools. She was selected from among 14 applicants for the directorship, which is a new position with the school district.

In addition to her seven years as Fraser Valley Elementary’s principal, Ferguson had worked as an assistant principal and classroom and special education teacher at the elementary and middle school levels with the Roaring Fork School District.

She is survived by her husband, Scott Ferguson, also of Fraser.

Ferguson’s death is the second tragedy involving an East Grand School District staff member this school year. Amy Gallagher, 26, a first-year English teacher at Middle Park High School, died as the result of a one-car accident on Nov. 28, 2007. She apparently lost control due to icy road conditions on State Highway 9 near the border of Grand and Summit counties.