The Haida Gwaii School District is facing tough decisions about the future of the bus route between Tlell and Port Clements.
After a year of actively trying to recruit a bus driver to cover the position left after a long-time employee retired, the district has yet to find a qualified candidate.
“We almost had to cancel the Tlell to Port route,” said Lao Peerless, manager of operations, speaking at a district board meeting on Sept. 17.
A letter sent to parents the week of Sept. 13 said the route was staffed for now.
Peerless told the board another staff driver had stepped up and taken on the extra responsibility, but district staff are actively looking for a permanent replacement.
The school district is considering a possible training opportunity to license any interested applicants.
A few years ago, the district ran this opportunity and had 16 interested people. Three of them took the course, and one person successfully became a local school bus driver.
The district is actively seeking people who would like to become certified drivers. Peerless said they have six or seven interested people and will contact the Association of School Transportation Services B.C. to arrange the course.
SD 50 Vice-Chair Roeland Denooij spoke about the issue.
As the district representative for the Elementary Sports Committee, which plans all the play days and sports days for local elementary students, Denooij said bussing is the biggest hindrance to arranging the multi-school events.
Denooij said there are time constraints to get students back to their schools so the buses can service their normal routes, leaving staff and students a very short window to enjoy the activities.
“We know there is no easy solution to that,” he said. “Ideally, there would be another bus with another driver that would be available in addition to our regular fleet of buses.”
The district is actively looking into solutions to avoid canceling routes and better serve the schools’ transportation needs.