This year's back-to-school day had its usual excitement for kids but added anxiety for parents, school officials and law enforcement officials.
The campus for the four Innisfail schools is undergoing a $7-million upgrade and officials were concerned that delays in getting the redesigned bus loop finished in time could result in congestion and safety issues.
But a plan was put in place to make sure traffic ran smoothly to ensure safety for all concerned, and no major problems were reported. The kids got to their first class of the school year safely and on time.
“People were responding really, really well. You could tell parents and kids were getting into the routine,” said Kurt Sacher, the superintendent of schools for the Chinook's Edge School Division.
Sacher, who was at the campus Tuesday and Wednesday, said he was not aware of any complaints from parents.
Jackie Taylor, principal at École John Wilson Elementary School, said there was a meeting a week earlier with school officials, RCMP, peace officers and town officials on how to best handle the first day due to the delay of having the new bus loop ready in time. She said construction of the new loop was postponed by rainy summer months.
“Everybody decided it was in the best interest of the foundation of the bus loop to wait. If we are going to have anything ready for the first day of school we needed the entryway to be what it is going to be,” said Taylor, adding the campus's upgraded entryway was completed in time. “We have a new entry out here that people won't be used to, so the traffic flow is going to feel a little bit different.”
To meet the challenges, members of the board's Central Office Leadership Team, a score of teachers and other school staff members, RCMP and peace officers from the town and Red Deer County were on hand to help direct traffic and ensure all children were safe.
“You make the best of it and that is what we are here to do, to see if we can make the best of a little bit of a challenge,” said Sacher. “The attitude of the administrators and the staff of our three schools in Innisfail has been phenomenal.”
Innisfail RCMP Const. Chris Lavery, the detachment's school resource officer, said it was imperative that parents got used to the new traffic flow immediately and that everyone understood the designated areas for both parents and buses to ensure safety,
“It is always better to have too much safety than too little, especially on the first day of school,” said Lavery.
