by Carl BR Johnson
June 21, 2013
Photo by Carl BR Johnson — Gerry Slykhuis proposed the change to make transit routes more efficient in light of $750,000 budget cuts.
School District 59 (SD59) is considering going to a four-day rural school schedule in an effort to create a more efficient bus system.
Secretary Treasurer for SD59 Gerry Slykhuis proposed the change at the SD59 board meeting in Dawson Creek on Wednesday.
“We need to consider a four day school week at the rural schools,” said Slykhuis to the board during his presentation.
This proposed change is primarily because of the $750,000 cut over three years to district’s transportation budget.
By changing the students’ attendance schedule of the region’s rural schools, the board believes that considerable sums of money can be saved by consolidating many rural and town school bus runs.
“Right now, a single bus can pick up all high school, town and rural kids at the same time because the rural schools start quite a bit earlier than the town schools. So the buses can pick up all these kids, drop off the elementary school kids at the rural school and continue on into town,” he said.
He said this efficient bus route system can’t be repeated in the afternoon as yet because the town schools end later than the rural schools so the kids at the rural schools would be waiting around for an unacceptable amount of time.
The same buses could transport town and rural school students in both the morning and afternoon if the rural school schedule is altered accordingly.
Slykhuis said this idea “is still being floated” because the board still needs to consult with the rural school families.
“This was just one of the ideas that came out of all of our consultation and meetings,” he said.
Barb Dunbar, a parent with two kids in the rural McLeod School said her main concern is childcare during the lost weekday of school.
“Many parents work five days a week so it’s going to make it harder for them to find childcare for the lost day,” she said.
“But this is better news than hearing about a school closing down.”
Dunbar said persistent rumours of the McLeod School closing down have added to their anxiety about the school bus situation.
“I’m not opposed to a longer day and it seems that many school subjects could use more time spent teaching it,” she said.
“Maybe they could simply extend their lunch hours.”
Dunbar said if the student is old enough, it might be okay for them to be left alone at home if the parent were still in town working on the rural school’s day off.
“It seems that the rural schools are always on the chopping block so this idea of a four day week is still better than my child having to drive all the way into town five days a week to go to another school,” she said.
Slykhuis also announced proposed changes to several school bus routes in the region.
The board is aiming for implementation of those changes in September of this year.
Five school bus runs facing elimination will affect Fellers Heights, Tate Creek, and Route 49 – which includes Alberta students.
Slykhuis said these changes will affect some students more than others, with some spending less time on the bus and others spending more time on the bus.
“A couple of bus riders will experience a major increase in time spent on the bus,” he said.
“We have one student that spends 276 minutes a day on the bus. I suspect that we have the longest ridership times in the province.”
Another proposed change will be the elimination of Route #57 that will affect dual credit students – the Chetwynd to Dawson Creek run.
According to the board, the annual savings will be $95,553 and will affect six students that ride this bus every day.
That elimination will not take place until February of 2014.
Proposed changes for implementation in September of 2014 will be a further restriction of school bus service into a more “transit-style, centralized pick up and drop off structure.”
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