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Winnipeg Free Press
04-07-2025
- Business
- Winnipeg Free Press
Kicking the tires on a career driving school buses
Summer break may be in full swing, but Manitoba's largest employer of school bus drivers is ramping up recruitment to tackle a chronic workforce shortage. 'This was one of our worst end-of-school years — all the staff that could drive who work in the office had to actually drive every day for a month, month and a half,' said Danielle DesAutels, who manages a bus depot on Archibald Street. First Student, a multinational transportation contractor that runs school bus routes and charter services, hosted its third Winnipeg open house on Thursday. Ruth Bonneville / Free Press First Student trainer David Nisbet teaching Mike Webster how to operate a school bus during First Student's driver recruitment day, Thursday. The company's annual recruitment drive began in 2023 in response to growing demand for student transportation and a wave of retirements during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. First Student has more than 400 bus drivers, the majority of whom are semi-retired seniors, on its local roster. Its Manitoba division needs to hire about 65 extra employees ahead of September to meet the ballooning needs of its clients, DesAutels said. School boards typically hire First Student to supplement their respective fleets and driver pools, although the francophone school district relies almost entirely on the contractor to transport its students throughout the year. No matter where someone lives, they don't need to look far if they're interested in a role that can involve bussing 70 young students at a time in stressful traffic situations, said Alan Campbell, president of the Manitoba School Boards Association. 'School bus driving is not an easy gig… It is among the most challenging positions in the sector, full stop,' said Campbell, a veteran school trustee whose day job involves transportation logistics. Wednesdays Sent weekly from the heart of Turtle Island, an exploration of Indigenous voices, perspectives and experiences. He cited the stressful nature of the job, as well as a cost-of-living crisis that has rendered part-time work less desirable, as the major reasons for a 'significant' shortage of drivers that has caused service disruptions. Boards have rolled out more incentives, such as paid training, to compete with First Student and recruit drivers in recent years, Campbell noted. First Student offers $22.72, with a guaranteed four hours of payment per shift no matter how long it takes for a route to complete. Employees are not unionized compared to their counterparts in the Winnipeg School Division and elsewhere. Just days after the final bell rang, educational assistant Mike Webster showed up to 421 Archibald St. eager to test-drive a yellow bus on the lot. 'It was a lot of fun. It's huge and you've got (seven) mirrors — you can see absolutely everything,' the 52-year-old said. Webster said he's keen to pad the school day and his paycheque with a gig at First Student in 2025-26. Another bonus? 'I love kids,' he said, noting he prides himself on spreading positivity and helping students 'have the best day possible' in his existing roles. Ruth Bonneville / Free Press First Student, a multinational transportation contractor that runs school bus routes and charter services, hosted its third Winnipeg open house on Thursday. The father of two juggles multiple jobs, as a tutor, music teacher and crossing guard. The rising price of his grocery bill — 'both my kids are going through growth spurts' — warrants another, he said. First Student employees served smokies hot off a barbecue in their parking lot to drum up excitement among potential candidates. Randine Chomyshen, a trainer, safety officer and assistant manager, said her pitch is that it's a flexible and permanent part-time job that gives people a purpose. Chomyshen was among the staffers who had to return to the road after spring break due to sick calls and coverage gaps. 'Fourteen years ago, when I started here, this office had 40 LR (Louis Riel School Division) routes. Now we have 74. That's just one example of how much one division has grown,' she recalled. The Pembina Trails School Division, which relies on its own drivers and contracted employees from First Student, had to adjust start and end times on numerous campuses in September 2023 to double-route buses. The changes have 'mostly addressed' issues related to the driver shortage and size of its fleet, said Radean Carter, communications officer for the division. Jodi Ruta — better known as Jodi the Bus Driver to her 150,000 followers on TikTok — applied to be a school bus driver in 2020 to make ends meet when her dog-training business was disrupted during the initial COVID-19 lockdown. Ruta said what was supposed to be a short-term job at a rural school division turned into a fulfilling career, owing to the students she has met and watched grow up. 'I told them on the last day of school that if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't be in this job,' she said, noting that members of Gen Z and Gen Alpha may get a bad wrap, but they teach her something new every day she drives a bus. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Winnipeg Free Press
30-05-2025
- General
- Winnipeg Free Press
School divisions mobilize in response to wildfires
A Manitoba First Nation school put out a plea to families to send their children to class more regularly, citing 'a decline in student attendance,' 24 hours before wildfires engulfed the community. 'Regular attendance is essential for students to stay engaged, participate in lessons, and develop the skills needed for their future,' Sakastew School administration wrote in a memo to families on Mathias Colomb Cree Nation on Monday. 'We kindly ask for your co-operation in encouraging your child to attend school consistently.' The next day, the kindergarten-to-Grade 12 school was forced to abandon its efforts to re-engage students for the final month of the school year. Instead, leaders have been focused on rerouting their fleet of yellow buses to help transport vulnerable evacuees to the local airport, located about 800 kilometres north of Winnipeg. Schools in Flin Flon, Lynn Lake, Pimicikimak Cree Nation and Sherridon have also been shuttered indefinitely. Other communities remain on standby. As school leaders in affected communities gas up to support evacuations where possible, colleagues in safety zones are searching for empty classrooms and gymnasiums to provide shelter. The Manitoba government has called the Winnipeg, Seven Oaks and River East Transcona divisions to find room for displaced Manitobans who arrive in Winnipeg. Details were still being hammered out midday Thursday, but superintendent Tony Kreml said he was looking for leads to help shelter evacuees and allow them to do laundry, prepare food and access showers at Seven Oaks' facilities. 'Public education is there for the greater good — that includes in times of tragedy and times of disaster,' said Alan Campbell, president of the Manitoba School Boards Association. Campbell said schools are built into community response plans because they have access to fleets equipped with wheelchair lifts and restraints to transport people safely. The Sinclair family watched school buses filled with priority-evacuees from Mathias Colomb drive past their front window to the airport on Thursday morning, and waited for their turn. 'Everybody's getting impatient – the whole reserve… Nobody's giving us information,' father Leo Sinclair said on a video call. Landline phones went down in the community as infrastructure melted in the extreme heat, but Sinclair remained connected to the internet via StarLink. He, his wife and their 15-year-old son kept refreshing social media for updates on the emergency response. The trio learned that evacuation plans were getting underway via Facebook the night before. Fire chief Glenn Dumas announced in a video that priority evacuations would include babies, elders and residents who were homebound due to medical conditions. Sinclair's immediate family – none of whom were on the initial list – continued seeking refuge from the smokey skies inside. '(Wednesday) was dark. There were lots of trees burning and it was difficult to breathe,' Sinclair said, adding the fire is believed to have started when a resident burned garbage at the dump and it spread due to windy and dry conditions. His son, whose school has been closed since Tuesday in response to the wildfire threat, was occupying himself by scrolling on the internet. A government spokesperson said the province's focus is on ensuring the safety and well-being of affected students, staff and their families. 'Consideration for delivery of education in scenarios such as these is the responsibility of the school divisions and/or schools. However, the priority remains health and safety,' the spokesperson said in a statement. The president of the school boards association echoed those comments. At the same time, Campbell noted that climate change is increasingly affecting everything in Manitoba. He suggested it would be worthwhile to look into what kind of permanent remote learning infrastructure could be created in the future to give student evacuees continuity in their schooling. 'Increasingly, as rural and remote communities are facing evacuation – either because of wildfires or because of flooding – there needs to be a way to respond to that in a proactive, measured, pre-arranged way,' he said. Maggie MacintoshEducation reporter Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Free Press. Originally from Hamilton, Ont., she first reported for the Free Press in 2017. Read more about Maggie. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative. Every piece of reporting Maggie produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press's tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press's history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
