Northern Lights Public Schools’ (NLPS) motion to get cameras on school bus stop arms has made it one step closer to becoming a requirement in Alberta.
Last week, the school division received an outpouring of support from the Alberta School Boards Association (ASBA), for their motion to lobby the government to mandate cameras on the stop arms of school busses.
The push comes from their concern for their students’ safety.
According to NLPS board chair and director on the ASBA board, Arlene Hrynyk, bus drivers across the country are constantly witnessing drivers pass their busses when their red lights are flashing, putting students at risk as they get on and off the bus.
Their motion received support from 94 per cent of school boards involved in the ASBA.
Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD) was one of the school boards that voted in favour of the motion.
“We believe strongly that we have to make the trip into school and back home again as safe for our students as we possibly can,” LCSD board chair Mary Anne Penner expressed, adding drivers passing school buses dropping off and picking up kids isn’t “safe for anybody.”
“It’s not safe for the other drivers on the road, and it’s definitely not safe for the kids coming or going to school.”
Now, they will begin the process of lobbying the provincial government.
“At least now we have a position to help us solve an issue of safety for our children,” expressed Hrynyk.
For years, bus drivers, parents, students, and faculty of Alberta schools have stated their concerns about drivers passing while a bus’s red lights are flashing.
“This is a provincial problem, and hopefully we can influence the minister and the government to understand that we need to take some immediate action to mandate this on school busses so that we don’t lose children,” Hrynyk detailed.
This is the first step of many to solving the problem, but it’s a good start, she added.
“This means from a school board provincial association, we’ve heightened the awareness of the growing safety concern for our children, and we can’t afford not to invest in these because we need the information to garner the convictions.”
The school board is hoping that by installing cameras on the school bus stop arms, they will be able to catch drivers in the act and hold them accountable for their actions.
Hrynyk said, “The six demerit points and a $543 fine, it’s still not doing what it needs to do.”
Within their own district, NLPS has one route that has had five drive-by incidents since the start of the school year.
Hrynyk said it’s putting their most precious cargo, their students, at risk.
Only four of the boards within the ASBA didn’t support the motion.
“I don’t know why they didn’t, but it doesn’t matter because it passed with a significant percentage saying that this is important and it matters,” Hrynyk emphasized.
Their next steps are to lobby the provincial government to change the requirements of bus drivers across Alberta. How long that will take, Hrynyk couldn’t say.
“I could never put a timeline on when we could see change,” she noted.
Currently, the school board is suffering from a shortage of bus drivers as the expectations continue to rise.
According to Hrynyk, drivers now have to undergo Mandatory Entry Level Training, which takes 60 hours to complete. This is above and beyond their 20 hours of getting their “S” endorsement.
She added, “There’s been no funding increase to transportation, so it’s getting harder and harder to get drivers, never mind the amount they’re doing in terms of safety on the highways.”
