Media Advisory: Press Conference in Fredericton Boardroom 4 at Crowne Plaza 1:30 pm, December 1, 2010

Isabelle Hains speaks at a press conference held December 11, 2008, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Fredericton, NB.

Media Advisory: December 1, 2010

Press Conference in Fredericton Boardroom 4 at Crowne Plaza 1:30 pm, December 1, 2010

Isabelle Hains of Bathurst, NB will be meeting with Hon. Jody Carr, Minister of Education, at 3 pm on Wednesday, December 1, 2010 in Room 48 of the NB Legislature.

Prior to the meeting, Mrs. Hains will be available to speak to the media from 1:30 to 2:15 pm in Boardroom 4 of the Crowne Plaza (Lord Beaverbrook Hotel), Fredericton.

In light of the incident last Wednesday, November 24, 2010, in which Prestige Bus Service knowingly drove 60 students from Marshview Middle School in Sackville, NB 298 kms to Halifax, NS with bald tires, Mrs. Hains intends to ask the Minister to implement the final recommendations of the Coroners Inquest into the Boys in Red tragedy:

"Nothing less than a qualified Class 2 yellow school bus driver with endorsements for school buses and air brakes should be used for travel to off-site extra-curricular events. Teachers, coaches and parents, as well as volunteers, should not drive children to off-site events"

and
"Only yellow school buses or multi-function activity vehicles to be used for travel."

News 88.9: Education minister concerned after bus carrying students found to have worn tires

Some mothers of children killed in Bathurst tragedy call for charges to be laid

FREDERICTON, N.B.- The New Brunswick government continues to investigate after a couple of buses were found to have badly worn tires while carrying students on an out-of-province field trip.

Click here to read original story on 88.9 website

Education Minister Jody Carr says he expects to have more to say
about the matter this week. "This greatly concerns me and so I've instructed the staff at the Department Of Education And Early Childhood Development to work in cooperation with our officials at the Department Of Public Safety to gather and review the facts surrounding this situation", says Carr. "I will report on the facts this week as I have them gathered".

Carr is telling schools that for the time being, they should not use the private company that owns the buses. Carr says the temporary caution about Prestige Bus Service of Sackville, New Brunswick will remain in place until the situation is resolved.

Meanwhile, Some mothers who lost children in the Bathurst school van crash in northern New Brunswick almost three years ago are calling for charges to be laid against the owner of two buses found to have balding tires.

Click here to read original story on 88.9 website

KHJ Radio: Transportation company under investigation by the province

Education Minister Jody Carr says a temporary order involving Prestige Bus Service of Sackville will remain in place while provincial officials investigate the matter. Carr says the two buses were carrying about 60 students from a middle school in the Moncton area when they were stopped by Nova Scotia highway safety inspectors in the past week. He says both buses failed to meet tire-tread standards. Carr says officials are gathering facts about the situation and expects to have more to say in the coming week. He adds he understands the company has been used by one school district in the province for about 10 years with no prior major issues.

Click here to read original article on KHJ News

Radio K94.5: NB Buses Found to Have Badly Worn Tires

By Alyssa Delle Palme. Last updated: 2010-11-29 09:09:34

THE PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT IS CONTINUING TO GATHER INFORMATION ABOUT A COUPLE OF NEW BRUNSWICK BUSES FOUND TO HAVE BADLY WORN TIRES WHILE CARRYING STUDENTS ON A FIELD TRIP.

Click here to read original article on K 94.5 website

EDUCATION MINISTER JODY CARR SAYS PRESTIGE BUS SERVICE WAS CARRYING ABOUT 60 STUDENTS FROM A SCHOOL IN THE MONCTON AREA WHEN THEY WERE STOPPED BY NOVA SCOTIA HIGHWAY INSPECTORS LAST WEEK.

TIRES ON BOTH BUSES FAILED TO MEET SAFETY STANDARDS.

CARR EXPECTS TO HAVE MORE TO SAY ABOUT THE MATTER THIS WEEK.

MEANWHILE, A GROUP OF MOTHERS WHO LOST THEIR CHILDREN IN A SCHOOL VAN CRASH ALMOST TWO YEARS AGO IS CALLING FOR CHARGES TO BE LAID AGAINST THE PRIVATE BUS COMPANY.

ON THEIR VAN ANGLES WEBSITE, THE MOTHERS CALL THE INCIDENT "SICKENING" AND SAY PRESTIGE BUS SERVICE OF SACKVILLE SHOULD BE CHARGED UNDER THE MOTOR VEHICLE ACT.

Moncton Times Transcript: Government to probe bus safety issue in province

Education minister expected to address issue this week following incident in Nova Scotia

A2 BY SHAWN BERRY TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF

The union representing New Brunswick school bus drivers is calling for an end to the use of private buses for extra-curricular events after a recent incident in which two such vehicles carrying a group of middle school students from Sackville were pulled off the road in Nova Scotia because of bald tires.

Click here to read original article in the Moncton Times-Transcript

The buses, owned by Prestige Bus Service of Sackville, were stopped by Nova Scotia motor vehicle inspectors Wednesday in Halifax. The officers ordered the defective tires immediately replaced.

"Last week's incident ... only reinforces the need to use school buses for those trips," said Delalene Harris Foran, president of the New Brunswick Council of School District Unions, which represent 1,100 school bus drivers in the province.

"Professional Class 2-B school bus drivers are among the most regulated drivers in New Brunswick.

"Our safety record is second to none in North America, and we're proud of that."

School bus drivers, she said, are specially trained to perform daily visual inspections of their vehicles, which are inspected twice yearly by licensed mechanics.

Education Minister Jody Carr has ordered schools not to use Prestige until a review of the Nova Scotia incident is complete.

A coroner's inquest into the January 2008 crash that claimed the lives of seven members of the Bathurst High School boys' basketball team, along with their coach's wife, recommended the sole use of school buses driven by drivers with a Class-2 licence for extra-curricular activities. A group of mothers who lost their sons in the Bathurst High School crash is calling on the province to step up and lay charges over this most recent incident.

Isabelle Hains, whose son Daniel was killed in the January 2008 Bathurst crash, wants to see charges filed in this case.

"I'm just so upset with everyone's loopholes, and answers, delays and defending themselves."

Hains plans to travel to Fredericton this week to meet with Education Minister Jody Carr.

Donald Estabrooks, whose family owns Prestige Bus Service of Sackville and who was driving one of the buses, told the Halifax Chronicle-Herald on the weekend that two worn tires on the tag axles of each bus were identified prior to departure and a decision was made to replace them the following day.

Tires on tag axles "provide additional support when there are exceptionally heavy loads," he said.

"There was never, at any time, a safety risk," he said. "We are a small company that is completely dedicated to safety."

Estabrooks said publicity about the incident has been devastating for the chartered bus operation. Officials with New Brunswick School District 2 have already cancelled future contracts, he said.

The education minister says details of the incident have caused him great concern.

"I have instructed staff at the department to work in co-operation with the Department of Public Safety to gather information and review the facts surrounding this situation. I will report on the facts this week," Carr said in a statement yesterday.

Click here to read original article in the Moncton Times-Transcript

CBC: Interview with NB Education Minister Jody Carr

In this interview with CBC Information Morning host Terry Seguin, New Brunswick Education Minister Jody Carr responds to the controversy surrounding a recent incident which saw 60 students from Sackville, NB transported to Halifax in two chartered buses with bald tires.

Click here to listen to the interview with Terry Seguin and New Brunswick Minister of Education Jody Carr.

CUPE: Recent Private Bus Inspection Failure Shows Need For Action

Left to right: Jean Yves Maillet, Vallie Stearns and Delalene Harris Foran, President of CUPE 1253 (union responsible for bus drivers) speak to the media during a break at the Coroners Inquest, May 2009, Bathurst, NB.

FREDERICTON: The union representing school bus drivers in New Brunswick says the government should not wait for another tragedy to occur before implementing the use of school buses for extra-curricular activities.

“Last week’s incident where two private charter buses carrying 60 students were pulled off the road because the tires were unsafe only reinforces the need to use school buses for those trips”, said the president of the New Brunswick Council of School District Unions (CUPE 1253), Delalene Harris Foran.

“School buses are visually inspected on a daily basis by the drivers who receive special training and these buses are inspected twice yearly by licensed mechanics. Our buses meet all provincial standards. Professional Class 2-B school bus drivers are among the most regulated drivers in New Brunswick. Our safety record is second to none in North America, and we're proud of that. School bus drivers are regularly trained and tested in vehicle and student safety more than any other class of driver.”

“We are pleased that Education Minister Jody Carr immediately told schools not to use private bus companies until they investigate this incident. We believe the Minister should go a step further and implement the Coroner’s Inquest recommendation on the use of school buses for extra-curricular activities. ”

The Coroner’s Inquest specified: "Nothing less than a qualified Class 2-B yellow school bus driver with endorsements for school buses and air brakes should be used for travel to off-site extra-curricular events. Teachers, coaches and parents, as well as volunteers, should not drive children to off-site events."

“We call upon the Department of Education to immediately implement the Coroner’s Inquest recommendation that only Class 2-B professional school bus drivers be used to transport school children at all times. Trying to do these trips by cutting corners is not worth the risk."

"What we need is a real change in attitude. We have to stop trying to get away with cutting corners when it comes to the safety of children. Cutting corners in student transportation costs lives. Safety starts where the rubber hits the road, and that's with the bus and the driver”, concluded Harris Foran.

For more information:

Delalene Harris Foran, President, CUPE 1253, at 622-8009
Jean-Yves Maillet at 955-5345
Danielle Savoie, CUPE Communications, at 381-1966