Student Transportation of Eastern Ontario is working to promote student safety and well-being while in their care.
STEO transports around 33,000 students and they have introduced a number of special programs. STEO GM and CAO Janet Murray was joined by Operations Manager Marc Gosset for a presentation at the Catholic District School Board of Eastern Ontario’s Board of Trustees meeting. During the talk they touched on the Purple Band Program, Tokens of Kindness, and Mental Health School Bus Signage Campaign.
According to Murray the Purple Band Program has been in place for several years and helps them keep track of their youngest travelers. School personnel put a purple band around the handle of junior and senior kindergarten student’s bags. This indicates to the drivers that student requires special attention and a guardian present at drop off.
Students who perform an act of kindness on the bus may receive a token from bus drivers as part of the Tokens of Kindness program. Murray says they developed the program after their drivers pointed out how few programs they had to recognize the positive behavior of students. Finally all buses are now equipped with signage to remind riders of mental health support groups in the area, mostly Kids Help Phone according to Murray.
There was also brief discussion about the school bus driver shortage and a new app they are running out to help parents keep track of cancelations or delays. Gosset said the shortage is impacting the consistency of school bus drivers on daily routes and the availability of charter buses. It was noted that Eastern Ontario is not alone in this issue, with school boards across the province reporting a shortage.
STEO has also launched their new BusPlanner Delays App which parents can program to send them notifications if there is a bus delay that affects their children. It is available on Apple and Android.
