‘I’m really optimistic’: communication upgrades follow young student transit ordeal

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This article was published 15/02/2023 (939 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Confusion reigns about why a six-year-old spent more than 90 minutes in transit after the first day of school and division staff could not tell the family where he was. However, the boy’s father says recent communication improvements are a promising sign of much-needed change.

“We never did find out where Eddie’s incredible journey took him — where he ended up, who discovered the error, what happened to him or why exactly it happened,” said John Kovacs, who has three children enrolled in Winnipeg’s River East Transcona School Division.

Kovacs said this week he has accepted he may never know the events that unfolded Sept. 7, but is pleased with RETSD’s response to improve school transportation and information-sharing with families in the months since.

The family’s youngest child was supposed to be dropped off at their doorstep in East St. Paul at 4:04 p.m. on the first day of the 2022-23 school year. The Grade 1 student eventually came home around 5:10 p.m. — shortly after his parents called 911 over their concerns no one could locate the child.

At the time, RETSD’s parent portal only showed children’s drop-off and pick-up locations, timing and bus numbers.

The Kovacs had no idea their six-year-old, new to school bussing, was supposed to transfer vehicles and he did not end up making a successful switch Sept. 7.

The division’s information technology and transportation teams recently “found a solution” to ensure caregivers receive all relevant transportation information, including transfer details, on a central dashboard, according to a RETSD spokesperson.

“This update is welcome for both families as well as school and transportation staff and is reflective of our ongoing commitment to safely transporting 3,378 students each day,” Amanda Gaudes, senior communications co-ordinator, said in an email.

Superintendent Sandra Herbst was sincere in her personal apology and has put in place a new system of checks and balances to ensure bus drivers ensure the children that are supposed to transfer do so, Kovacs said.

“I’m really optimistic… I want to believe this won’t happen again,” he said, adding his son was shaken up by the incident but now feels comfortable riding the school bus.

The East St. Paul family received details about busing plans for their children — which included putting their elementary students, both of whom were signed up to attend École Sun Valley School, on different routes to the same location — shortly before the current school year began.

The Kovacs requested the children be put on the same afternoon bus, but they learned via auto-reply changes would not be possible until the end of September and could not get hold of a transportation employee on the phone.

The day after the bussing incident, an exception was made to adjust schedules and allow the siblings to take the same route both to and from school.

While touting the updated dashboard, Kovacs said divisional transportation staff need to be more responsive and address parent concerns about scheduling issues before the first day of class next fall in order to avoid similar issues in the future.

The superintendent has acknowledged there were “a considerable number of (transportation) delays,” both within and beyond the division’s control, on the first day of the current school year.

In a letter Sept. 8, Herbst indicated the division would improve its communication with families going forward.

Bussing delays and cancellations are posted online via the division’s website and Twitter (@RETSDtransport).

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie