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School busing and transportation plans outlined to trustees

The transportation systems in the South East Cornerstone Public School Division are undergoing some changes said Larry Ursu, manager of transportation services for the division.
Larry Ursu
Larry Ursu, manager of transportation and fleet services for the Cornerstone School Division.

The transportation systems in the South East Cornerstone Public School Division are undergoing some changes said Larry Ursu, manager of transportation services for the division. 

One kilometre walk zones will be implemented for both the Weyburn and Estevan Comprehensive Schools once the Weyburn Junior High School is closed and their Grade 7 to 12 students will be enrolled in the comprehensive school in that city. 

Walk zones are also being planned for elementary schools, but will consist of shorter distances, perhaps four blocks, he said. 

The changes are being brought about by direction of the board. 

School bus stops and routes will be affected by the changes and students in Grades 9 to 12  who require busing, and are currently paying for that service, will continue do so in the future. 

Ursu said similar types of regulations are also to be implemented in 11 smaller centres, such as Moosomin and Carlyle. 

“We’re just at the stage of studying the data that has been collected,” said Lynn Little, director of education for Cornerstone. 

Under the current system, all elementary students can ride a school bus if they live outside a four-block area from the school they attend. 

Trustee Harold Laich, who joined the Nov. 19 meeting via Skype, said he figured the busing services as they related to the larger and smaller centres, will probably come up again. 

Estevan trustee Janet Foord said in her opinion, the question will be how far students will be expected to walk, not how many of them will be required to walk to shool. This will surface as a legacy issue, she suggested. “And we may never figure it out. I’ve been on three different committees over the years and we haven’t come to a conclusion on this topic.” 

Shelley Toth, the division’s business and financial vice-president, said the type of areas that are involved also enter into the equation. Noting a good portion of the one kilometre circle around ECS is designated light industrial, so there would be few, if any, students walking to school from the eastern side. She also noted that access to walking paths and sidewalks becomes an issue too, which again, comes into play with ECS, as do items such as closeness to highways and busy intersections. 

Under the new system, no high school student would be required to walk more than one kilometre to reach his or her school. 

“I guess we’ll just have to let the transportation committee do its work,” said vice-chairwoman Carol Flynn. 

“We need to look for equity,” said Weyburn trustee Warren Betker, something that Laich agreed to and all agreed that safety was a main cog in the planning and whether or not the schools can be approached via sidewalks or not. 

Ursu said he was pleased to report that recent courses on first aid and CPR were offered in Weyburn and Fillmore and “while they are not mandatory, 108 of our 163 bus drivers have taken this course and 13 new drivers will be offered the courses and scheduled for them if they want them.” 

During the past year (Sept. 2014 to Aug. 2015) Ursu said they accepted seven bus driver resignations and nine retirements while two passed away. There was just one retirement and one resignation in the Estevan area. All have been replaced with full-time drivers with the exception of four positions that have been eliminated due to changing demographics. 

There are 11 spare drivers available in Estevan and 15 out of Weyburn and another seven in Moosomin. 

Ursu reported the purchase of eight buses in the past year and has tendered for eight new ones again this year, plus a new wheelchair accessible handy van. He said the original intent was to purchase 10 new buses, but with the drop in the value of the Canadian dollar, the purchases had to be scaled back. The average age of the buses in the active fleet is now between five and six years. The division has 164 school buses in the total fleet. 

“In 2014-15 we transported 3,602 students an average of 18,906 kms per day on 114 regular routes. We are currently transporting 3,569 students an average of 18,509 kms per day on 111 regular routes. On contracted bus services, First Bus, they transport 927 students an average of 8,404 kms per day on 43 routes,” said Ursu. 

Cornerstone undertook 598 extra trips in the last school year, for a total of 41,770 kms and that did not include charter trips. 

Using the division’s five leased vehicles and paying mileage at a cost of about .44 cents per km, translated into a saving of just over $16,600 over the course of the year, the transportation manager said. 

One major challenge continues to be road and bridge construction within the various rural municipalities. Some of these bridges and roads have now been replaced or repaired, which will improve transportation efficiencies this school year, he said. 

Ursu said that Dan Gedak has announced his retirement as foreman for Estevan and area following 29 years of dedicated service that went well beyond expectation. The new transportation forewoman will be Evelyn McWilliams.