N.L. English School District suspends busing for 4,000 students at 20 Northeast Avalon schools

The Newfoundland and Labrador English School District has suspended student transportation services provided by Gladney's Bus Service citing safety concerns for students.

"Following a review of information available, the district could no longer permit the continuation of busing services without confidence it is being provided in a safe manner for students," the district said in a Saturday press release.

There are 20 schools impacted in this process, which includes some alternate transportation services.

The district said they are aiming to have bus services for those schools in place again by Monday, February 20. But, for the time being, families of affected students are being asked to make their own arrangements for transportation to and from schools.

The affected schools and routes are as follows: 

As well, Gladney's alternate transportation contracts are for Cape St. Francis Elementary, Holy Trinity Elementary, Holy Trinity High, Juniper Ridge Intermediate. 

The statement offered no further details on the nature of the safety concerns.

"The district sincerely apologizes for the inconvenience this will cause many families, students and schools," the statement said. "However, the organization has been left with no alternative but to take these steps in order to maintain student safety."

In an interview with CBC News, Terry Hall, CEO of the school district, said while an accident involving a Gladney's bus fatally hitting a pedestrian on Wednesday did play a role in their decision to suspend services, it is not the sole reason. 

"It wasn't any one particular aspect, we wouldn't make a decision based on one aspect unless it was something overly significant," said Hall. "This is a culmination of information that we've gathered throughout the school year and some concerns we had with the fleet and operational issues with respect to this particular contract that led us to this decision."

Hall did not elaborate on the safety concerns, though he did say a review of Gladney's will be taking place.

"The suspension for Gladney's services is going to allow us to have a full review of their fleet and operational measures, because that's where we have the safety concerns," Hall said. "We don't put a time frame on how long that may take us, because we need to make sure we do a thorough review to understand the ability to provide the safe service and the standard that we expect."

Hall said this decision will impact around 4000 students, though he expects some students to be back in buses before the end of the coming week. 

"We do understand the inconvenience this causes for parents," said Hall. "But rest assured we don't take these decisions lightly."