Education council shocked by ‘outrageous’ move to reduce school bus repair, breakdown services

Members of a district education council said they were taken by complete surprise when they learned about changes the province made to its policy for school bus repair services.

If a bus breaks down on the side of the road during its route, the department will no longer send replacement buses out to the field, said Dominic Vautour, chairperson of the Moncton region’s Anglophone East District Education Council. Mecahnics will also be unavailable to assist if a breakdown happens outside of business hours, which Vautour said are being reduced to 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The province’s Vehicle Management Agency implemented the changes beginning Nov. 4, but Vautour said his council only found out about the new policy on Nov. 18. He said the council never recieved written notice informing them the policy change was coming.

“We didn't hear about it. You know, we didn't have time to plan, we didn't have time to mitigate the circumstances to ensure that our system continues to function,” Vautour said, calling the move “outrageous.”

Vautour questioned what would happen if a bus broke down past 4 p.m. as the district does still have some buses running past that time of day.

“[The department] is no longer sending mechanics on the side of the road. It's -20 [degrees], it's a snowstorm. We don't know what the circumstances could be. We cannot leave those students there.”

This announcement comes a year after the province's auditor general slammed DTI for not having an effective system to ensure school bus safety.

When asked by reporters at the legislature on Wednesday, transportation minister, Chuck Chiasson, described the decision as a human resources matter.

“What it boils down to is we have a lack of licensed mechanics in our shops,” Chiasson said.

He said the department recently signed an agreement with the union to raise pay for bus mechanics, which he said will hopefully make it easier to recruit and retain them. The mechanic shortage is “pretty much province-wide,” he added.

“We’re certainly not going to leave any children stranded on the side of the road,” Chiasson said.

“We’re going to work with the district to find a way to get a driver to pick up a bus or to get a bus out to them, we’ll work with the district in those types of situations for sure.”

Vautour said his school district has been able to come up with a work-around plan of hiring a fleet manager for the school buses as well as runners who can bring replacement buses to the sites of breakdowns if need be.

But there is no room in the district’s budget for this, Vautour said, so the district will seek reimbursement from the Department of Education in the future.