Excerpts from 2006 Newsletters: Changes to your route It is important that we are notified every time there is a change to your route – new students on or students leave (regardless whether it affects your miles or not), miles added, miles removed. We saw a need to develop a form for this purpose which you can find on the website www.nesd.ca then click on the hyperlinks to Transportation or Forms. Changes of students (on
or off) your bus also need to be reported to your affected schools.
Trading School Trips If we make arrangements for a driver to drive for a school trip, we fax a confirmation back to the school saying who the driver will be. If as drivers, you exchange trips among yourselves, please let the school know (we do not usually need to know). Strobes We have had a report that not all buses are using their strobes when they have passengers on board. The regulation reads the strobe light must be used any time the bus is outside town limits and has students on board. However, the driver has the option to operate the strobe light when there are no passengers on board if they want to do so. The strobe light is not to be operated within town or city limits with or without passengers on board. Bus Driver as a Professional Driver As a professional driver, your role is an extremely important one. My goal is to increase the public’s awareness of that. I hope I can count on you to help me achieve that goal. Besides being a professional driver, studies have shown that the bus driver has a huge impact on the educational experience of children. If they feel happy and secure on their ride to and from school, their whole experience is improved. There is so much you can do to promote the role of the bus driver: • • • • • Be on time and be reliable Have a clean bus inside and out Ensure all your safety checks are done Follow the traffic laws meticulously Watch for bullying and involve your school principal immediately
• Know the policies and procedures outlining the expectations of a bus driver. If in doubt, ask. Gas Slips – attach to log sheets All the little card lock gas slips need to be attached to your log sheets before you send them in. If you have any you are holding, please submit them as soon as possible because we will be holding statements to be able to balance to them. We balance these slips to both the log sheets and to the fuel company statements. The fuel usage is then entered into a computer program. Personal Use on Buses Drivers also need to know that they cannot use the buses for personal use. We have permitted drivers to pick up groceries, mail etc while they are in town as long as there is no additional miles. If you use the bus for this purpose (groceries, mail, personal stops) and you are in an accident, you will have to pay the deductible on the insurance. With gas prices so high, it is becoming more important than ever that buses are not used for personal driving and are not left idling anywhere while the driver is doing personal stops.
School Bus Stop Ahead Signs We are trying to get a list of all the School Bus Stop Ahead Signs that are in our school division. Will you watch for signs that should be removed? Sometimes students graduate and no one remembers that the sign isn’t required anymore. We want people to pay attention to the signs when they see them so we must ensure they are all meaningful. If you require a new School Bus Stop Ahead Sign, there are criteria required before we can install one. This information as well as the application form is on the school division website at http://www.nesd.ca/depttransportation-StopAhead.html . If you are able to write down where the signs are located on your route, that also would help us. Land location is ideal but if all you know is the name of the family where the sign is located and which side of the road the sign is installed on, we can track it from there. Traffic Safety Act Effective July 1, 2006, the Traffic Safety Act is now the amalgamation of the Highway Traffic Act, the Vehicle Administration Act and the Motor Carrier Act. There have been some increases to suspension clauses of the Act. Also the slow to 60 km per hour when passing a tow truck stopped on the roadside, with lights flashing while rendering assistance will be law effective July 1. The fine is $140 plus $2 for each km per hour in excess of the speed limit up to 30 km/hr and $4 for each km per hr in excess of the speed limit for speeds greater than 30 km/hr above the speed limit. Meals while on School Trips Bus drivers will not be paid for meals while on school trips. Drivers hours are calculated throughout the lunch period so they do not have an unpaid lunch hour as most employees do. Drivers will have to take their own lunch or buy their lunch. Drivers Pre-school Children on School Trips The pre-school children of Bus Drivers may only ride the bus with the permission of the Manager of Transportation Services (Neal). The Principal must also approve the pre-school children may ride if it is a school trip. Also it is the law that preschool children who are not in a preschool program that ride on a school bus must be in a child seat secured by a seat belt, tether strap and harness installed by the shop mechanics if they are 29.6 pounds or less and in a booster seat with lap and should belt if they are 29.6 to 59.5 pounds. If the pre-school children of the bus driver are a discipline issue, they may not ride on the bus. The bus driver’s attention must be with their driving and their authorized passengers. Route Change Form Please let us know immediately if there are any changes to your route either in students or miles. There is a form for this purpose in your handbook. Every single child needs to be entered on your route forms for many reasons – that is how our grant from the province is based, insurance purposes, sizing of your bus and many data and statistical reports. Allergies Peanut allergies affect several of our buses. If you need more information about it, please let me know because we have some fairly good brochures. There may be rare occurrences when you or someone on the bus will have to administer an EpiPen (provided by the student). Here is what the brochure says: 1) pull off grey safety cap. 2) Jab black tip into outer thigh until activates. 3) Hold EpiPen in place several seconds. Then discard unit. I hope you never have to use it but it could be important if you ever do. They recommend not waiting if there is any indication it is needed – the side effects of using an EpiPen when not needed are very rare. We will provide more formal training at future in-services.
Where you park your bus We have had a few phone calls from towns and cities that are concerned about where our buses are parked on the streets. Please be aware that some communities have expressed concern about where our buses park. To avoid problems please do not park close to corners making it difficult for the traffic to see and avoid parking on the main commercial streets when at all possible. School Bus Safety Week Second week of October is School Bus Safety Week. Reminder: during this week every bus route must conduct an evacuation drill. Please mark the date you do this in your log books. Review the procedures in the driver handbook. New Buses At the in-service we talked about how new buses will be allocated to bus routes as it makes sense for size and distance; and that we will allocate new buses only to those drivers who look after their buses both mechanically and for cleanliness. Buses are sized on the routes so that if possible the front seat can be left empty in case the driver needs to place students’ carry-on items there or to move children up for disciplinary reasons. If your bus is incorrectly sized (too big or too small), you should let Neal know and we will try and accommodate a change (or at least be aware of it for next year). Process When You Have a Concern, a Question or any Communication Flow Do you understand what the process is if you have a concern, a question or any communication related to your job? I went back to my notes from the driver in-service and I think it warrants repeating as a reminder:
“ ….. The Transportation Department is in the Business Department of the school division along with financial services, technology and facilities. Ralph Paquin is the Superintendent responsible for all those portfolios. I am the Supervisor for Transportation & Technology …. In our office in Tisdale are two managers Neal for Transportation and Mark Raine for Technology as well as the System Administrator Adam Neish. Adine is the glue that keeps us all together. The Drivers and Mechanic’s immediate supervisor is Neal. The organization chart is used for communication flow and for concerns or disputes. All your initial communication would normally be with Neal or the mechanics. If you are not satisfied after talking to Neal, you would go up the Organizational Chart to me. Still not satisfied you would talk to Ralph. The Director of Education, Dr. Ivan Yackel, is normally the last avenue of appeal. The Board of Education has chosen the policy governance model which means they will not become involved in the day-to-day operations of the division. This is a huge change from what you were used to in the legacy divisions. Now it would be very inappropriate for one of you to report issues directly to a Board Member. Please go through the appropriate channels with concerns.” If you have any questions, please call Neal or myself. When drivers fail to follow the lines of communication, they can make the entire
Transportation Services look bad … and you are part of Transportation Services. Our collective goal needs to be to promote the school division vision “education in a culture of excellence”. There can never be too much communication. Exceptions to Communication Flow Two exceptions to the communication flow explained in the paragraph above are: 1) Questions about your pay cheques are directed to the Payroll Office 862-4616 2) Calls about any other paperwork are directed to Adine at our office
Student Discipline We have had a number of calls this month from parents or bus drivers about inappropriate student behavior on their buses. We need to work very hard on this one. Bullying and harassment on the school buses cannot be tolerated. • Please read up on this topic in your bus driver handbooks. If you follow the steps outlined, it will often stop the problems. • Ensure you complete a Student Conduct form and give it to your Principal and Neal when serious incidents happen. This is so that a paper trail of documentation is on file in case the incidents escalate. Often it will not be the very first incident form that you submit that will result in the school disciplining the student. • If you feel you need more support or you would like Neal involved with a meeting with the Principal, please just let him know. • We have a couple of cameras that we can move around to buses that are having the worst problems. • Our next professional development day will focus on this topic. • If drivers have some techniques that they have tried that work very well, please share them and I will add them to future newsletters. For example: Jay Kwiatkowski has an activity box on her bus that she continually adds new materials to. The kids are excited to see what is new and they sit quietly working on the activities. Leaves from Bus Driving If drivers are going to be absent from their duties for 20 days or longer, they are expected to apply in advance through our office for a leave of absence. Any driver wishing to accept term employment elsewhere which prohibits them from driving the bus should resign from their driver position with the school division and apply as a substitute driver on their return. We are a farming community and we will approve all leaves for harvest and seeding purposes. Notifying Us If You Get a Fine or Medical Report When we received the driver abstract forms from SGI this year, we noticed that several drivers have received speeding or other tickets (while driving their own personal vehicles) that they did not notify us about. Please note that from here forward we will treat this seriously as it is the law that you notify us and we are expected to have this information on file.
the school board, municipality or person who employs or has engaged the driver to drive a bus of any of the following: a) any conviction against the driver pursuant to i) The Alcohol and Gaming Regulation Act respecting the operation of a motor vehicle; ii) the Criminal Code; iii) The Highway Traffic Act; iv) The Vehicle Administration Act; or v) any regulation made pursuant to any of the acts mentioned in sub clauses i) to iv). b) any suspensions or revocations of the driver’s license, a refusal by the administrator designated pursuant to The Vehicle Administration Act to issue a license to the driver or a license restriction imposed on the driver by the administrator designated pursuant to The Vehicle Administration Act; or c) any medical condition that in the opinion of the driver’s physician or health care provider could have an impact on the driver’s ability to safely operate a bus.
Student Conduct on the Bus We have dealt with a number of concerns from parents, a number of concerns from bus drivers and a few concerns from students this past month. I am told that this time of year is typically difficult for both classroom teachers and bus drivers and we need to find the best ways to deal with problems. I have copied and pasted (italicized on the next page) the excerpt from the Bus
Section 4.1 of the School Bus Operating regulations states: No driver shall fail to promptly notify
Driver Manual. Please re-read it and follow the recommendations every time there is an issue of any significance. There are some additional suggestions that I can pass along to help you: • It is not a good idea to act like a drill sergeant and watch for every move the students make – this will only result in a power struggle – but we cannot allow bullying or harassment between students to occur either, so it is a balance that you need to judge. • Do not use the children to relay messages to the parents about bus issues. Sometimes the messages don’t get through in the manner you might wish them to. Parents would prefer to receive a call directly from you. • Do not hit the brakes to “teach them a lesson” when the students are not sitting appropriately in their seats. This results in the students losing respect for you, parents becoming alarmed about your driving abilities and generally is not the way we want to treat children. • Do not get into the habit of constantly yelling at the students. • You might want to consider pulling over to the side of the road at a safe place, stopping your bus, shutting off your heater so you aren’t hollering and speaking to the children about their behaviour. If you warn the students, you must follow through and contact the parents of the children involved and complete the School Bus Behavior Report to document the incident on and give a copy to the Principal and to Neal as soon as possible. (Form online at http://www.nesd.ca/forms/transportation/School_Bus_Behavior_Report.doc or available from the shops or a copy is in the back of your Handbook which can be copied at any of the schools). • I created a brochure that includes the bus Code of Conduct for students. It is on the transportation page of the website and also available in the shops. If you would like a few more copies to give students that are behavioral problems, please let me know.
From the Handbook: The school bus is an extension of the school and the classroom. Students are expected to follow the School Bus Safety Code of Conduct. There are ways to deal with behaviour issues: Always treat students with respect and they are more likely to treat you with respect; Be positive and pro-active with students (ie not being sarcastic, being friendly, telling students why the rules are what they are, show interest in the students, show appreciation, etc.); Don’t become part of the problem by allowing situations to escalate; There is nothing wrong with delaying the consequences of students’ bad actions. Tell the student there will be consequences to their action and then follow through; It is recommended that the driver warn the student for a first-time minor offence and record details of the warning on the log sheet; then talk to the parent of the student and advise them of the circumstances of the warning and then talk to the Principal or complete the form provided about the warning. For serious misconduct or repeat offences, the Principal may deny bus service for up to three days. A suspension of more than three days must follow the Education Act; Damage to buses, either willful or otherwise, must be reported to the Manager of Transportation Services who will determine the consequences (for example if a seat is damaged the student may have to pay for the repairs); At no time may a Bus Driver eject a student at other than the school or the student’s home/designated stop; If a Driver feels a student is not properly dressed for the weather, they can report it to the Principal. The Driver should not refuse entry onto the bus for this reason.
A form has been developed for bus drivers to report behaviour issues to Principals and for Principals to let drivers know what follow up has occurred from the report. Principals have asked that discipline issues are reported to them when they first start becoming an issue. Drivers may not suspend a student’s riding privileges.