LAKELAND – Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) Director of Transportation Matt Richter presented the Transportation Accountability Report to the NLPS board on Jan. 17 and spoke about several challenges the school division continues to face.
“The primary purpose of the transportation department is to provide safe, efficient transportation for healthier students,” said Richter.
Last spring, Alberta education said it would increase funding for the 2023-24 school year by $1.1 million. But when the division submitted data for grant funding in November, there was only an increase of $500,000.
Richter explained that because of changes in walk limits, 4,300 students are relying on transportation services, and the longest ride time for some students is 114 minutes.
He also noted the Lakeland area is struggling with a shortage of bus drivers. “Bus driver recruitment and retention have been extremely problematic over the last year,” says Richter.
However, he also noted there have been small improvements in finding spare drivers, which has increased the availability of some routes.
Another issue facing the school division is the continued occurrence of “flybys,” which refers to situations where vehicles illegally pass school buses that have stopped to collect or dropping off kids. Flybys are being reported on an average of three times per week.
Another challenge impacting bus operations is the increased costs of replacing school buses. Richter explained that contractors have avoided purchasing new buses because of scarcity and higher costs.
When buses near the end of their lifespan or contractors retire, Richter says it is challenging to get people willing to invest in new buses – especially when funding falls short of the expenses. It usually takes nine months to a year to receive new buses and sometimes up to 18 months.
During a question-and-answer session after he provided the report, Richter said be believes Alberta Education needs to step up funding to cover bus shortages.
