Wheels keep spinning on Iqaluit school bus squabble

A spat between the Iqaluit District Education Authority and the Nunavut Department of Education over allegations of overcrowded school buses is still unresolved. (FILE PHOTO)

The wheels on Iqaluit’s crowded school bus discussion are going, well, around and around.

In a public letter to parents last week, the Iqaluit District Education Authority criticized the Nunavut Department of Education for dragging its feet on an alleged need for a new yellow bus in the city.

But education department officials say the IDEA has not done its due diligence by providing the proof needed to justify acquiring another bus.

The department also said the IDEA hasn’t followed the proper channels for getting such a purchase approved.

“The department respects the DEA’s jurisdiction in the matter and has not stepped in more directly, as we have not, at any point, received an official request from the DEA to do so. This would normally come in the form of a motion from the elected body,” a Department of Education spokesperson told Nunatsiaq News in an email Sept. 27.

The department’s response follows an article published by Nunatsiaq News Sept. 26, where the IDEA alleged the department had yet to act following a spring meeting held to address complaints about overcrowded buses and student safety.

But the Department of Education said it called the June meeting with its busing contractor in an effort to be proactive, and then invited the IDEA to take part because the problem had been raised during the authority’s annual general meeting.

“The intent of that meeting was simply to discuss the contract and some potential solutions that the contractor could consider,” the department said.

But the contractor’s financial quote for a new bus was double the amount covered under its existing contract.

R.L. Hanson Construction Ltd. holds the contract to operate school buses in Iqaluit. The company’s contract expires in June of next year, with an option to extend the contract to 2020.

The operator did not respond to a Nunatsiaq News request for comment by press time.

The current squabble started when IDEA board chair Doug Workman asked Iqaluit-Sinaa MLA Paul Okalik to bring the bus question before the legislative assembly.

The department suggested afterward that the DEA review school catchment areas and current bus routes to see if adjustments are possible.

“Once the department has that information, it will act quickly to address the matter,” the department said. “The Department of Education takes safety of our students seriously.”

The IDEA held a meeting Sept. 25 to put more of its overcrowded bus concerns on paper.

“We have asked the four school principals to monitor the number of students getting off the buses and we will be asking the same from Hanson’s drivers,” Workman said.

“We are also getting a copy of the busing routes with all of the stops.”

There are currently six buses in Iqaluit that are used for the IDEA’s four schools and École des Trois-Soleils.

The Iqaluit DEA estimates that about 100 more students in Iqaluit are using bus service compared with 2012. 

But a concerned parent, Joanne Ashley, said the current safety issue might raise legal problems.

She said that in the winter, the city’s rough and icy roads could easily see a standing child tumble down a bus aisle, or fall from an overcrowded bench seat.

“If a child gets seriously injured, who knows if a parent would file a lawsuit, and who would be responsible?” she said.

Ashley was one of the parents who raised the issue in the spring, through a letter submitted at the IDEA’s annual general meeting.

She suggested getting the existing buses to do a second route, or to rent a large van to carry the overflow.

“It’s our job as parents, as the Department of Education, and as a community, to take care of our children, and to protect them at all costs,” Ashley said.