The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District says it’s too early to say what impact its reassessment of bus driving hours will have on employees in the Corner Brook area.
Last week, The Western Star reported that changes were coming for school bus drivers and caretakers.
The union representing these workers, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, confirmed some bus drivers had received redundancy letters in advance of coming changes but also said details of what will be happening have yet to be worked out.
No one from the school district was made available for an interview about the coming changes. In an emailed reply, the school district said it reviews bus routes regularly to ensure everything is running as efficiently as possible, with respect to stops, routes and ridership.
Bus routes are designed based on the Department of Education guidelines, which includes considering school start times. Three schools in the Corner Brook area — Corner Brook Regional High School, Corner Brook Intermediate and C.C. Loughlin Elementary School — will all be opening 20 minutes later this coming September, but the school district has not said how much of a factor this might be in considering any upcoming revisions.
Once routes are planned, continued the email, the human resources required to complete the service are determined.
According to the school district, the service is not being reduced for students who use the system and there are no major changes to bus routes. However, by applying the guidelines to the 2018-2019 routes and applicable schools, the district says it will not require as many driver hours to perform the same service as was necessary in 2017-2018.
As a result, the school district is in the process of adjusting some positions to make more full-time work for existing employees. The district said it is too early to say what impact that may make to current positions.
Bus routes are designed based on these Department of Education guidelines: http://www.ed.gov.nl.ca/edu/k12/busing/bus_route_planning_guidelines.pdf