School safety fears as buses leave kids "UPDATE"

PARENTS are worried that school children could be injured due to overcrowding on buses. La Mare de Carteret Secondary School has a large catchment area and relies on buses to get its pupils into school.

With many pupils transferring from St Peter Port School, the school buses from Town have been struggling to cope with the increase. ‘Someone is going to get killed,’ said mum Tracey Le Page. ‘It is not acceptable.

She claims to have spent many mornings with her daughter, Alaina, 12, ensuring she and her classmates get to school. There is a dedicated school bus, followed by the 3A bus. However, these do not always manage to accommodate all the children.

This week, Mrs Le Page was left in the rain with 14 children after both buses had left.

‘I was left there with the kids. I had to call the Education and the Environment departments as well as Island Coachways. But they all pass the buck.’

‘The department has continued to monitor demand,’ said its minister, Peter Sirett. ‘Following increased pressure on the morning services (now standing room only), the department has decided to operate a further, additional, dedicated, school-bus service in the mornings.’(fromthisisguernsey)

Typical States non - thinking policy too busy looking after the "Cock-ups" with the new school, without thinking of what extra strain it has caused, on the already stretched resources of La Mare de Carteret..

Blame the last Minister and Director of Eaducation......The blame lays directly at their door.......

ENVIRONMENT minister Peter Sirett has come under attack from his predecessor for not taking seriously the issue of overcrowding on school buses.

David De Lisle said he had been taken aback by ‘irresponsible comments’ of Deputy Sirett regarding children’s safety. During question time in the States, Deputy Sirett said overcrowding on school buses was a sign of success.

He said it was a sign that the traffic strategy was working. Deputy De Lisle said the minister’s comments belittled complaints from parents and teachers that safety was not being taken seriously.

‘There is an obligation on the States to make school transport safer,’ he said. ‘It’s just not good enough to shrug off the issue when more children are being driven onto buses as schools shut and children are consolidated into larger schools.’

The entire fleet of buses and available drivers are being used to provide school and scheduled services.
(from thisisguernsey)

David De Lisle is right the children the States want to have bigger schools, then they should provide proper transport for them...

TWO schoolgirls were hurt and left badly shaken after an incident on their school bus. Twelve-year-old Alaina Le Page and her mother expressed concerns about bus safety at the start of term and the Guernsey Press reported those on 13 September.

On Monday, Alaina gashed her hand on the bus home from school. ‘I pushed the bell to stop the bus,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t too far forward. When the driver braked, I grabbed hold of the timetable holder. It happened so fast. The driver didn’t even ask if I was OK.’

Nine-year-old Ethel Lingad was standing next to Alaina when the incident happened and was badly bruised in the incident.

The Environment Department has looked at CCTV footage of the incident and said that the bus was not full at the time. ‘It is clear the bus was not at full capacity,’ said Environment minister Peter Sirett. ‘At least three seats were empty and only five or six students were standing. It is appalling that the behaviour of some students at the front of the bus contributed, without a doubt, to the outcome of the incident. Had those students been seated or holding onto the rails and not interfering with the safe use of the bus, the innocent, well-behaved female student who was waiting to alight would not have been knocked forward.’

Island Coachways is looking into the matter. ‘Obviously we take any complaint very seriously,’ said managing director Hannah Beacom. (thisiisguernsey)