A “critical” bus driver shortage in the Northern Lights School Division (NLSD) has Matt Richter, director of transportation for the board, worried if it gets any worse, they may not be able to continue offering in-town busing for numerous students.
There are so few drivers working for contractors that service both the NLSD system and the Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD) that drivers are pulling double runs.
Back up drivers, who usually work in the shop or office, are forced into full-time positions, leaving no one to fill in if anyone calls in sick or needs time off, said Richter.
“They're always pinch-hitters,” Richter explained when he made his report to the NLSD board of trustees on Wednesday. “But now they're punch-hitting full time. This is very stressful because if someone does call in sick, we don't have anybody to cover for them.”
The problem has been coming for a long time, he added, and was made worse when there were changes made to qualifications to become a certified school bus driver, requiring further training to upgrade. Some drivers did not want to take the time to upgrade.
To complicate matters further, “we did lose one or two drivers over the calendar differences,” Richter explained. “We didn't know that until school started up. That was kind of a shock too. They said ‘I'll work somewhere else where I can get a little more time off.'”
Both school divisions passed calendars that were far more divergent this year than most years, with conflicting days off, which will require drivers to work more days.
Finding new drivers has been tough as well.
“There's just no more options left,” said Richter. “They've advertised all summer long and gotten very few people walking through the door.
“That's an indicator of what the labour market is like. It's not like they aren't trying. They're working different angles, different approaches, different media types, and no one is walking through the door. There's no one there.”
It's an issue that industries are experiencing, he added.
“I've been telling people around Alberta that we've had kind of an economic boom bubble around here,” he said. “We're special. You can really see it when it comes to the driver shortage. We all see it. Everyone's short of labour. We're no different and I'm not sure what the magic solution is.”
Richter also added despite the government recently reinstating bus driver fuel funding, the damage has already been done and may be irreparable.
“It's too little too late,” he said. “The contractors have been subsidizing out of their pockets to keep things flowing. It's definitely going to help them, but I think we're just about past the point of no return. A lot, a lot of concerned contractors. We'll just have to day-by-day keep going at it.”
He is calling on the government for help and looking for ideas, for help in thinking outside the box.
“I need to know what solutions the government can bring forward for this,” he said. “They did this Get on Board project two years ago and it just died. That was it. They got on board and then walked away. I've got to see if they're still on board somewhere. We need some motivation, some carrots, something. This has to be analyzed deeper.”
The trustees agreed it was a critical issue, and one they hoped to bring up at their next board meeting.
Genia Leskiw, MLA for Bonnyville – Cold Lake, Ray Danyluk, MLA for Lac La Biche – St. Paul, and Jeff Johnson, MLA for Athabasca – Red Water, all three MLAs from the three constituencies represented by NLSD, are scheduled to be in attendance.
Trustee Danny Smaiel said the situation is very worrisome.
“Somewhere, somehow, the government has to take notice of this and say that this is a major problem that has to be addressed, whether it's funding, whether it's training, whether it's some sort of tax credit if you're a bus driver,” he said. “There has to be some sort of novel approach because we're missing the boat.”
Board chair Walter Hrycauk agreed, saying, “It's definitely an essential service, because if you can't get the kids to school, there's no point in opening the doors.”
