Accessing Service
Transportation via school bus is contracted by the CBE with First Student Canada. Parents are required to complete a transportation contract form. Routes and stops are established based on the addresses of students accessing the bus service on an annual basis. Students will be issued a bus pass and are expected to have it available at all times. The bus pass should be placed in a transparent, plastic cardholder and attached to the inside of the backpack. Students without a contract may not ride the bus. To check on late busses please visit the following website www.myschoolbusmonitor.com, or call 403-531-3900.
Riding an Alternate Bus
From time to time students wish to ride on an alternate bus to a friend’s home. This can be arranged provided there is room on the bus. To ensure that students are not disappointed, the following must occur:
- The parents of both students must send a request in writing to the office. Permission cannot be received over the phone.
- Requests must be received no later than the morning of the travel day.
- The office will provide the written permission slips to the bus driver.
- This privilege can be extended to regular riders only and does not include those students without a bus contract.
Supervision
Parents are responsible for ensuring that children are familiar with their bus stop, for establishing routines for getting to and from the stop each day, and for setting behaviour expectations for their children while waiting at the stop. Kindergarten students will not be allowed to get off the bus unless a caregiver meets them. School personnel supervise the loading and unloading of the busses at school. It is the student’s responsibility to go directly to the bus after school. Busses depart the school at 3:41 PM on Monday to Thursday and 12:49 PM on Fridays. Parents will be contacted to arrange transportation for those students who miss the bus.
Please let the office know if your child is not taking the bus home at the end of the day as bus attendance is taken daily before the buses can depart from the school. Late buses are often a result of the school looking for a child who has been picked up by a parent and has notified the school staff.
Riding Safely
Riders must comply with these clear expectations for safe, respectful behaviour:
- Follow the directions and requests of the driver.
- Conduct themselves in a quiet, courteous and considerate manner.
- Respect and comply with seat assignments.
- Remain seated and keep arms and heads inside while the bus is in motion.
- Refrain from littering, damaging the bus, or using foul or disrespectful language.
- Expect to pay for damages willfully caused.
- Heed driver’s instructions and observe safe crossing procedures before crossing the roads.
Appropriate bus behaviour is rarely a problem for most students. However, inappropriate conduct is reported to school administration through a bus misconduct written by the driver. A copy of each misconduct is sent home. Three misconducts in a school year will result in suspension from the bus for an appropriate period of time.
