ST. ALBERT, Alta — Parents at a St. Albert school where a man slept in the back of a school bus while children were riding to school would like to see the driver continue working, a school council representative says.
The morning of June 7, a man boarded a school bus headed to École Secondaire Sainte Marguerite d'Youville (ESSMY) after the bus driver left the vehicle unattended outside a St. Albert Save-On Foods. According to bus company Cunningham Transport, the driver did not become aware the man was on the bus until students brought it to their attention.
The driver has been suspended until further notice, and an investigation into the incident is underway, said Laura Doroshenko, fleet manager for Cunningham Transport.
RCMP were called to the area after the incident and relocated the man, Cpl. Morgan Kyle said.
No children were harmed in the incident.
Suzanne Morton, chairperson for ESSMY school council, said conversations with the council and parents have centred around compassion and understanding.
“We all have heightened emotions right now,” Morton said, referencing incidents of increased gun violence in schools, especially in the United States. “This is very scary, and it was a shock to all of us.”
Morton said parents she spoke to would like to see the driver continue working after an education process takes place. According to Morton, parents have heard glowing reviews from their children about the driver prior to the incident.
“We recognize that the driver is a human being as well, and therefore made a terrible mistake, which humans do,” Morton said. “They must be very shaken by what has happened.”
Ultimately, Morton said she hopes the incident can also be a moment of learning for students to speak to an adult if anything out of the ordinary happens.
“We know that the school is going to be talking to the kids, and we hope that parents will have that conversation as well,” Morton said. “Hopefully it can be a learning situation for everyone in the end.”
Shanlyn Cunningham, Greater St. Albert Catholic (GSACRD) spokesperson, said the school division responds to all serious incidents by taking a step back and re-evaluating the protocols and policies in place to prevent incidents in the future.
“From our perspective, we want to reinforce that we take safety very seriously,” Cunningham said.
GSACRD sent out a letter to parents the afternoon of June 7 addressing the incident. Cunningham said the school is now working with Cunningham Transport to resolve the issue, and highlighted that the driver has been removed from work with GSACRD at this time.
Doroshenko said Cunningham Transport is also investigating the incident. Aside from the investigation, she said one aspect of the incident that sticks out to her is that it seemed like the man who boarded the bus had nowhere else to go.
“He’s in a parking lot at 6:30 a.m. looking for somewhere to sleep, it just rained for two days, and he’s got a can of tuna and a juice box with him,” Doroshenko said.
She said it brings to light something “people in St. Albert really don’t like to talk about.”
“The homeless population in St. Albert, where do they go?” Doroshenko asked. “St. Albert is a pretty affluent community, and people don’t want to think that’s it’s in their neighbourhood, but it’s there. It’s certainly there.”
