Bus services for both Regina school divisions are expected to roll out with pandemic measures in place Sept. 8.
However, just a week out from the first day, Regina Catholic Schools addressed the possibility of a driver shortage in certain areas.
Twylla West, a spokesperson for the division, didn’t specify numbers but said they wanted to be up front about the situation.
“At this point, we anticipate we are going to be fine in that second week of school when everyone is going to be coming because there won’t be as many students being bused,” she said.
Regina Catholic Schools, which contracts L3 Transportation Solutions, previously asked parents to consider driving their children to and from school to allow for physical distance.
West said the division is now urging parents to confirm whether they can provide their own transport before the school year begins.
As of Tuesday, the contractor had two job postings for school bus drivers in Regina.
In the 2019-20 school year, Regina Catholic Schools bused a total of 5,786 students.
The division is also responsible for the joint transportation of Regina Public Schools students attending École Wascana Plains School and École Elsie Mironuck Community School.
In the 2019-20 school year, 423 public school students rode on shared buses.
- ‘Shock and disbelief’ after Manitoba school trustee’s Indigenous comments
- Canadian man dies during Texas Ironman event. His widow wants answers as to why
- Several baby products have been recalled by Health Canada. Here’s the list
- ‘Sciatica was gone’: hospital performs robot-assisted spinal surgery in Canadian first
Regina Public Schools owns its school buses, which are operated by Warner Industries. In the last school year, a total of 4,438 students took the bus.
Warner Industries transportation manager Natasha Wood told Global News there are currently 96 drivers employed to start the school year.
She said they have enough drivers, and aren’t currently hiring, but noted resumes are always welcome.
Masking, Disinfecting on board
Regina Public Schools has mandated that all staff and students using bus transportation wear non-medical masks. For Catholic school students, only students in Grades 4 through 8 are required to mask.
Wood said while they won’t know the exact numbers per bus until likely the second week of school, students in Grade 3 and under can still be seated three to a seat. Those in grades 4 and over can be seated two to a seat.
“All students will have a seating plan on the bus. We have kept students in the same households together; to be seated together where possible,” she said, adding that includes daycare cohorts.
Wood noted that, where possible, the seat directly behind the driver will remain empty.
“I think drivers, and myself, feel confident about the measures we’ve put in place,” she said.
“After every run, the driver is going to have to sanitize their whole bus with the Vitol Oxide.”
In cases where drivers do a double run, Wood said they will be responsible for spraying down the seats at the school, before driving to collect new passengers.
Once the school buses are parked for the evening, a mass sanitization of the fleet will take place to prepare for a new day.
Wood said that schools will be notified if students don’t comply with seating arrangements or other safety measures.
Graham Warner, owner and president of Warner Industries, said they’ve worked closely with the school division to prepare for what is a “fluid” plan.
“We work hand in hand with them. Where we see opportunities to improve a process, they listen and allow us to implement it,” he said.
“It’s wonderful for the drivers, because typically in the winter time it’s dark in the morning when they have to do their safety inspections,” he said.
“I’m nervously optimistic, because COVID is still a lot of unknowns surrounding it. But I’m very proud of our team for providing the best defence that is available.”
Comments