MOOSE JAW — Prairie 小蓝视频 School Division is changing how it transports students in Moose Jaw, including updating the distance some youths must walk and making exceptions for busing some children.
Division administration presented an updated board policy 17 during the board of education’s May meeting, with trustees unanimously approving the document. These changes will go into effect in September.
Several changes were made to the “eligibility for transportation” section, the document shows.
Students in prekindergarten and kindergarten who live within the City of Moose Jaw will now be transported to school if they live outside a 500-metre radius from the school — compared to the previous radius of 200 metres — but may be required to walk that distance to reach their bus stop.
Furthermore, parents/guardians of those students must now accompany their children to the bus stop for pickups and drop-offs. Meanwhile, students in grades 1 to 8 may be required to walk up to one kilometre to reach their stop.
Also, all Moose Jaw students from prekindergarten to Grade 8 whose walking route is considered “hazardous” will receive transportation, with the transportation committee — and not the director of education — determining the criteria for “hazardous areas.”
Meanwhile, a new section has been added entitled “hazardous areas resulting in busing exceptions.” The list includes all the hazards in the school division that result in students 小蓝视频 bused to school rather than having to walk.
One hazard is in the Craik School catchment area, as the town has multiple railway crossings, so Prairie 小蓝视频 plans to bus students who live on the opposite side of the tracks from where the school is located.
A second hazard is in the Prince Arthur School catchment area in Moose Jaw, as an alternate catchment area is in place due to the railway tracks at Caribou Street West and Fourth Avenue Northwest, the report says.
Students can walk down Fourth Avenue Northwest to Athabasca Street West and go under the tracks, but this adds time, so the division adjusted the walking catchment area to consider this additional time for youths travelling in the area.
Meanwhile, the transportation manager is now responsible for scheduling buses and routes in consultation with the director of education, instead of the education director and chief financial officer, respectively, the report adds.
In an email, education director Ryan Boughen said the organization changed the walking circles to be consistent across the school division, whereas they were not coherent before the adjustment.
“It’s not a focus on how far students have to walk. It’s more about what a reasonable distance for students to walk is,” he continued, noting that Alberta’s walking circles are significantly larger in kilometres.
Boughen added that the hazardous areas were identified in a document outside of the policy, so the division thought those areas should be brought in so it didn’t have documents that the policy didn’t explicitly reference.
The next PSSD board meeting is Tuesday, June 3.
