Last Tuesday, an apparent prank call to 94.1 The River radio station in Athabasca resulted in the temporary shutdown of school bus service.
The prankster claimed that the school bus service had been cancelled. As a result, the radio station announced the cancellation, when the buses were, in fact, running.
When Aspen View superintendent Brian LeMessurier heard about the situation, he immediately called the station. The radio apologized for the mishap, and LeMessurier requested they air a correction.
LeMessurier was shocked someone would endanger the life of children in the area.
“Imagine a parent hearing that the buses are running, after hearing they were canceled,” LeMessurier said. “That parent then takes (their child) back to the end of the driveway and goes to work.”
With frostbite setting in under 10 minutes, LeMessurier said what happened Tuesday could have been much worse. He compared the severity of the situation to someone making a prank 911 call, or several of them.
“I want people in the community to know that at Aspen View we don’t act like that. When we make a decision, we stick to it.”
When it comes to canceling buses in the division during the cold months of winter, Aspen View sticks to the weather policy.
“The confusion caused by this prank call undermines our efforts,” he explained.
“In my opinion, a call of this type amounts to nothing less than public mischief.”
By the time the radio announced that the buses were canceled, several bus drivers were already en route and picking up students.
In Grassland, students had been picked up and then dropped off again, and by the time the prank call was discovered, it would have been too late to have buses pick students up again. With temperatures being in the minus 30s, Grassland buses were eventually canceled.
“I wish this prankster would have thought of the possible consequences of making this disruptive call before it was made,” LeMessurier said. “It created uncertainty around bussing on a bitterly cold day, and seriously compromised the safety of our students.”
Aspen View is taking steps to make sure this confusion doesn’t happen again in the future. A link on www.aspenview.org takes you to Aspen View’s transportation page.
“Unless you receive a phone call from your particular bus driver, all buses in the Aspen View Public School Division are operating,” the site reads.
LeMessurier stated that if the board is going to err, they are going to err on the side of caution.
The buses were cancelled on Wednesday due to the cold, and a new protocol was exercised as the transportation coordinator called the radio station to deliver the news.
Representatives of the radio station declined to comment for this story.
