LAKELAND – In recent years Alberta’s school divisions have been sounding the alarm when it comes to getting students to school by bus.
For school divisions that operate between rural and urban areas, the struggle to find trained drivers has posed an even greater challenge.
Lakeland Catholic School Division (LCSD) as well as Northern Lights Public Schools (NLPS) have both faced their own challenges and looked to new solutions to obtain Mandatory Entry-Level Training (MELT) certified Class 1 drivers in a time when the Transporation industry has faced its own scarcity of workers.
As of Sept. 28, there remained four of Lakeland Catholic’s 42 bus routes not operating – two in Cold Lake, one in Lac La Biche, and one in Waskatenau.
However, LCSD Secretary-Treasurer Tessa Hetu stated, “The route in Waskatenau will be operational effective Oct. 3, and the one in Lac La Biche is expected to be operational later this week or early next week.”
Hetu added, “Two routes in Cold Lake remain vacant at this time, and our division is communicating regularly with our contractor, supporting where possible to assist in recruiting for drivers."
At a previous LCSD Board of Trustee meeting held on Sept. 20, Hetu informed the board that one of the Cold Lake routes had been a challenge to fill last year as well.
“[Last year] we ended up splitting the students and putting them on other bus routes so that they could all get to school. It's my understanding that the driver for that route is also in training but it won't be ready until Oct. 12,” Hetu informed LCSD trustees.
Despite the slow and steady progress of ensuring all students are able to access bussing services throughout the region, Cold Lake board trustee Vicky Lefebvre noted she fielded calls from concerned parents.
“I've seen some frustration and heard some frustration, and it seemed that part of it was [parents] just weren't aware or possibly not responded to,” noted Lefebvre. “It seemed like they were unsure as to what was happening.”
During the regular board meeting, Hetu acknowledged, “At one point, there were so many [calls and emails] coming in that even though we were responding to them, they were still coming in faster than we were able to respond to them. But I believe we're almost caught up on all of those calls.”
Hetu concluded by saying that the good news is that by Oct. 12 all the routes should be filled and be running smoothly.
Northern Lights
This school year, Northern Lights started off well with drivers for all routes – but has since experienced some challenges mainly related to a lack of spare drivers, according to Nicole Garner, the communications and public relations manager for the school division.
On Sept. 28, four of the division’s bus routes were unable to operate.
Of those, three were not operating due to the regular bus drivers not being available to work and an absence of spare operators to fill in for them while they are off, explained Garner.
“The fourth route was not operating due to a temporary absence that is now permanent, so we are working with the contractor to find a driver for that route and get it up and running as soon as we can,” she said.
With very few spare drivers available, Northern Lights is unsure what the timeline will be for having that route operational once again.
