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The Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Cornerstone School Division board of education received an update from their transportation department from Larry Ursu, manager of transportation and fleet services, during their monthly education board meeting on Thursday.
"There have been some questions posed to me as far as division professional development and safety meetings for bus drivers," said Ursu. "We meet at least twice a year with all bus drivers and in the past had meetings where the Sask. Safety Council, Sask. Government Insurance and department of Highways did presentations."
When Weyburn introduced the bus arm and stop light bylaw, a presentation had been held by SGI for the drivers. Upcoming presentations include renewal training for First Aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), rotating defensive driving course, and a full-day seminar that will concentrate on dealing with conflict resolution and ways to manage stress.
One of the main challenges for the transportation department is recruitment and retention of drivers. "Changes being worked on through negotiations will hopefully give us some leverage in the hiring of new drivers," said Ursu. He also mentioned that successes have come from their transportation foreman actively pursuing individuals, advertising the need for drivers on the backs of all their buses, and newspaper advertising.
"Responding to ever-growing demands on busing and bus times is another ongoing challenge that we are working on," said Ursu. In the 2010-11 school year, division-owned buses transport 2,779 students an average of 3,520,500 kilometres on 109 regular routes to and from school. One route was added in the Estevan area and another in the Weyburn area from the 2009-2010 school year.
In the event that a route cannot be covered due to a lack of drivers, the Cornerstone School Division does have a compensation policy in place for parents.
Ursu informed the board of education that he met with Â鶹´«Ã½AVern Industrial and Trucking in Weyburn and that they will start doing warranty work for International buses.
The Â鶹´«Ã½AVeast Cornerstone board of education asked Marc Casavant, director of education, to advise the School Community Council at Lyndale School in Oungre that they would work with them to lobby government to assign appropriate staffing levels for "Schools of Necessity".
"We do only have one 'School of Necessity' in our school division, and it is important to have a policy in place in regard to staffing," said board trustee Audrey Trombley. "We need to start discussions with the province and our MLAs to request assistance in maintaining appropriate staffing levels."
"It would also be wise to determine what the ministry sees as an appropriate number of staffing, and if they are prepared to fund it," added board trustee Len Williams.
Trombley added that it was important for the director of education to work with the SCC at Lyndale School to find appropriate solutions to their staffing concerns, especially in the short term while they are waiting for a policy to be established.
The board approved several B1 submissions to be directed to the ministry of education. One of these was a shingle replacement on Souris School, which is estimated to cost $200,000.
Upcoming important meetings for the board of education include conversations with the board in Alameda on Nov. 22, Wapella on Nov. 23 and Yellow Grass on Nov. 25, all at 7 p.m.; their MLA forum in Regina on Dec. 13; the regular board meeting on Dec. 16; and the annual general meeting on Jan. 13.
