How SD73 Busing and Maintenance Staff Keep Things Rolling

Related Photos

• 
  Tim Dempster and Wayne Mattson are 2 of over 200 SD 73 Facilities and Grounds staff
• 
  Mike Bruno is one of 83 school bus drivers in SD 73.

Understanding what happens on the ground for school buses and district maintenance operation is  important for School District 73 Trustees and Administrators. They toured district transportation and maintenance facilities Feb. 11. 

 Transportation

Manager of Transportation, Sherry Kristjanson, walked them through the life cycle of a school bus and how a bus is tracked and maintained through its time in service. The transportation department oversees busing in Kamloops, Barriere, Chase, Clearwater, Kamloops, Savona, Westwold and Vavenby. 

“There is a lot that goes into the day-to-day operations,” Sherry said. “From being cleaned to tires and services, to planning of routes for field trips, there are a lot of people involved.”

It takes 83 bus drivers operating 76 buses to move nearly 4,000 students across almost 9,000 kilometres every day. This includes an average of 25 field trips on any given school day. 

The bus garage is located near Thompson Rivers University, just off McGill. 

 Facilities

The Facilities Department is housed nearby, on Notre Dame Drive. There are more than 200 people in the facilities department, which includes journeymen, tradespeople, custodians and grounds maintenance staff. They look after school district facilities and grounds that cover more than 2 million square feet of building space and more than 350 acres of land. 

 “The work being done by our transportation and facilities staff is exceptional. Their time, expertise and commitment is what keeps us all moving forward,” said Superintendent Alison Sidow. “It’s important to acknowledge the daily effort required to maintain our district operations so we can safely transport our students, and we can provide great learning and working spaces for students, teachers and staff in the district.”