Students wait in cold, SD57 looking for other bussing options

“We are unhappy with the service that we are receiving.”

That is according to Lee Karpenko, the Assistant Superintendent of School District 57, regarding First Student’s ongoing cancelation of school bus routes in and around Prince George.

“We are trying every possible angle that we can,” he told My PG Now.

This includes looking at other bus and transportation contractors to fill holes in First Student’s current bus routes.

And there are still plenty of holes; according to the District’s website, eight bus routes were canceled at the start of this week, and another two this morning.

One of these canceled routes, bus 29, has left the Blackwater area without morning bus service for three weeks.

“It is typically a full bus,” said Blackwater parent Kirsten Milum, who has been driving her son to school every morning for nearly the entire month.

She received an email from the District on November 4th and 11th warning that there would be no morning bus in both of the following weeks.

At the start of this week, she received nothing.

“With that, I phoned Monday morning to First Student to see if the bus was running,” Milum said, adding that her neighbor also did not receive any communication.

She was told the bus was still not running, and requested for an email to be sent to the parents in the area – she said she still did not receive the email.

On her way to work later that morning, Milum passed students waiting outside in the cold for a bus that was not coming.

She said those kids ended up walking back home once they realized there would be no bus – and added that could have been a much worse situation if the temperature was any lower.

“Each week we have an update that goes out,” Karpenko said in response. “I would ask that parents check their email, or check the website. That’s where we put up the update that we receive from First Student on Sunday evening… that is where our most accurate information is.”

Milum maintained that herself and others never received any email from First Student or the School District about this week’s cancelation.

The cancelation was listed on the District website this morning.

“I think that more influence from parents may help put some action into the School District and First Student doing something about this,” Milum said.

Karpenko said if parents have any issues or questions to reach out to the school district.

“The parents and the community are equally, if not more, unhappy, not being able to have their kids go to school. We are looking at every possible avenue to increase the number of bus drivers and busses.”

Some of these avenues include looking into other transportation contractors to fill in the holes that First Student has not been able to fill in the past three months.

“I know that there is some headway being made, but we have not seen that yet. We are disappointed that we are still talking about kids not being able to go to school as a result of not having a bus to pick them up,” Karpenko said.

“We are equally concerned.”

My PG Now reached out to First Student for a comment, which they have not responded to at the time of publication.

If you have a similar story of being negatively impacted by School Bus scheduling this year and you would like your story heard, you can contact My PG Now here.

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