Catholic students and staff who must travel for activities will have to use school buses or smaller vehicles for transportation after the division reaffirmed its ban on 15-passenger vans.
Board trustees with Holy Trinity Catholic School Division discussed the prohibition of such vehicles during their August meeting, after division administration presented a summary of changes to six administrative procedures (AP).
Besides the ban on large vans, the other APs focused on employee code of conduct, general transportation, loss of personal property, acquisition of furniture and equipment and student and staff safety with extracurricular activities.
There have been several studies that show how dangerous 15-passenger vans can be, while Holy Trinity has said previously that schools cannot use such vehicles, so administration thought it was important to restate that fact, said Ward Strueby, director of education.
Schools can use mini-vans — vehicles with under 12 seats — to take staff and students places, but they cannot use the larger vans since those were initially built to haul cargo and face significant tipping hazards, he continued.
The division previously allowed Phoenix Academy to use a 15-passenger van to transport students only around Moose Jaw, but now no school is allowed to use such conveyances.
“At the end of the day, the school division strongly favours the practice of using buses to transport students. Buses are safer,” Strueby added. “Buses might cost a little more and they might not be as convenient because you have a lot of kids there, but … that’s what we’re trying to encourage staff to (use).”
Loss of personal property
Some school divisions have policies saying whether they will partially or fully compensate employees who experience damage to their property — such as from shingles damaging vehicles or someone stepping on eyeglasses — while working, Strueby said.
Similarly, Holy Trinity regularly receives questions from staff about what the division covers; there is now a policy to guide how much compensation people will receive.
Staff who experience damage to their property while working can submit their claims to the chief financial officer (CFO), who will assess the submissions and issue compensation up to a maximum of $500. The CFO will also work with insurance companies if required.
“We hope these things don’t happen, but at least we can treat everything the same, because if things are happening and it’s not consistent, that’s when hard feelings occur,” added Strueby.
Safety
In updating the AP that focuses on student and staff safety, and by extension, the safety handbook for physical education and extracurricular sports, the division added indoor rock climbing and zip lining as activities that schools can pursue, said Dave DePape, superintendent of human resources and operations.
“Those activities are deemed to be high-risk activities, so it’s … grade-approved, so grade 7 to 12. Students are allowed to participate if they meet the criteria in the phys-ed safety handbook,” he remarked.
Many schools have asked if they can participate in activities at SkyPark indoor/outdoor amusement park in Regina, so that is why administration updated the AP, DePape added. The division office is allowing students and staff to participate in indoor rock climbing and zip lining at this Regina-based business only.
Code of conduct
Administration has updated the employee code of conduct’s conflict of interest section to clarify that staff are prohibited from using their personal loyalty cards — like Air Miles, President’s Choice, or Co-op — to acquire division-related goods and services or conduct business, said Strueby.
“We don’t want to be in a situation where you’re getting perks that you shouldn’t get … (that are) a taxable benefit,” he remarked.
Superintendent Sarah Phipps told the board that the reason for updating this AP is because the division doesn’t want staff purchasing groceries for their schools and then claiming $100 in free loyalty points that they can use to buy personal groceries.
The next Holy Trinity board meeting is Monday, Sept. 16.
