Some citizens of Esterhazy are asking the Good Spirit School Division to reconsider its plan to take over bus service to that town's schools.
The 23 school bus routes in the Esterhazy area are the last privately-contracted bus service in the school division. At the start of next school year, the division plans to end its arrangement with Rilling Bus Ltd., which has held the contract since 2004, and administer its own bussing in the area.
Since the announcement, the school division has received correspondence from a number of Esterhazy residents protesting the decision: most of them employees of Rilling Bus Ltd., but some independent citizens concerned that the publicly-run arrangement will be more costly than the current free market solution.
But cost was the reason for the change, says Dwayne Reeve, director of education for the Good Spirit School Division. Beginning in 2008, GSSD underwent a study comparing the projected costs of managing its own bussing in the area to the current lowest tender in the province. That analysis predicted a savings of approximately $67,000 per year.
Taking over the contract will require purchasing a new fleet of buses and driving them regularly to Melville for maintenance: two pricey details noted by the authors of the letters to the division.
"It is a concern," responds Reeve, "because it is an increased cost over what we're doing right now, but obviously we've factored that into our analysis."
As for the employees of Rilling Bus Ltd., the director says that they won't necessarily be out of a job.
"It is our intention to look at employing all the current bus drivers."
The move away from contracted bus service has been an effective cost-saving trend across the province, Reeve says.
