With winter now entering its traditionally coldest months, students of all ages are being reminded of the importance of dressing for the weather.
Dieter Brandt, director of transportation for Chinook's Edge, says being properly attired when waiting for and riding school buses all comes down to safety.
“In the event of a bus breakdown, it may be some time before another bus comes or alternate arrangements can be made to transport students,” Brandt told the Gazette. “You never know in this country and this province if you are going to get stuck, so they need to be prepared for winter and that's for all ages.
“They need to be dressed reasonably in case of a breakdown or the bus gets stuck, and that happens. We do a lot of back-in turnarounds where we back into driveways that maybe have not been cleared and you suddenly get sucked into the ditch and then you are stuck for a period of time until we can get our tow trucks there. It's a safety issue.”
Asked if students need to be dressed so they can travel away from a bus breakdown, he said, “We would not be moving kids unless there is a safety issue. We would not be having them walk down the road to another site unless there is a safety issue where we had to move them for some reason.
“Normally we can get another bus there, but it could take half an hour or 45 minutes, and in the meantime if the bus is not running for some reason, it can get cold.”
Chinook's Edge has 124 school bus routes, the vast majority of which travel in rural areas. The division's buses travel more than two million kilometres a year, the vast majority in rural areas.
The division's transportation in inclement weather policy states, in part, that, “All children from Kindergarten to Grade 12 should be dressed appropriately. This may include gloves, a tuque, winter jacket, snow pants if possible, and winter boots. This way, in the event of a breakdown or any other unforeseen delay, you can rest assured that your child will be safe and comfortable until the bus is on its way again.”
Bus drivers are trained to make sure that students know the importance of dressing warmly – and that can include reprimands for non-compliant students and other actions.
“The drivers are asked to have the students dress appropriately,” said Brandt. “For some of the older kids, they sometimes don't want to do it, but the drivers will have that conversation with the student, then they would have a conversation with the parent, and if that doesn't work they start filling out discipline forms and the principals will have to deal with it.
“The drivers are very good about having those conversations with the kids, about what they have to do to be safe. It's a safety issue.”
The 43-school Chinook's Edge School Division has extensive information and tips on school bus safety on its website.
The division has instituted an inclement weather procedure to deal with extreme weather events in the region. Under that system, there are three types of school bus travel days: green days, yellow days and red days.
• Green days are when it is clearly safe for everyone to travel. All buses run on all routes on those days.
• Yellow days are when buses might not run in some or all areas of the division, but schools remain open.
• Red days are when schools, areas or the entire division are to be closed. Those days can occur when there are full-blown blizzards or combinations of heavy snow, high winds and very low visibility.
“We believe this is the best way to ensure everyone's safety,” he said. “It is important to note that a red day may exist for one school, for one area or for the entire division.”
When red days are declared, the division will send parents and other caregivers voice, email or text messages using the division's Alert Solutions automated communication system. Other messaging will go out through Facebook, Twitter, local radio stations and school websites.
Notification of yellow days is made through Facebook and Twitter.
Under the provincial Highway Traffic Act, students are not permitted to carry animals, firearms, skis, snowboards, skateboards or skates without guards on school buses, he said.
“Band instruments are allowed but must be secured underneath the seats of the bus,” he said.
"You never know in this country and this province if you are going to get stuck, so they (students) need to be prepared for winter and that's for all ages."Dieter Brandtdirector of transportation for Chinook's Edge
