Back in my early days on the executive of the PEI Home and School Federation I received a call from a parent concerned about the cancellation of the “late bus” in West Prince: they were concerned that this cancellation had made participating in after-school activities hard for many students, and they wanted something done about it.
A couple of days later I had occasion to be on the phone with Dale Sabean, then Superintendent of the Western School Board, and I brought the matter up: with some indignation in my voice, I’m sure, I raised the issue. “How could the board be so short-sighted to take this ham-handed move?”, I might have said (although I was likely more polite).
“You know there hasn’t been a late bus for more than 20 years, right?”, Dale replied.
To this point I’d been operating under the assumption that the cancellation of the late bus was a recent move, and one that needed to be nipped in the bud immediately; that was certainly the impression I got from the complaining parent.
Dale and I had a good laugh about this, I suggested that the board re-examine the notion of establishing a late bus, and I emerged chastened, wiser about the half-life of public school issues on Prince Edward Island, and happy that Dale Sabean was such a kind-hearted superintendent.
Today, the CBC reports, Public Schools Branch announced that there will be a one-year, two-days-a-week trial of a late bus in West Prince.
Comments
I was a late bus regular in the early 80s. It allowed me to be in symphonic and jazz band, get extra help from teachers and to be a part of the fantastic Westisle drama program in what was then PEI's second-largest theatre with full sound, lights and fly gallery. We did My Fair Lady, Pirates of Penzance (starring every PEI child's favourite troubadour Michael Pendergast!), The Mikado, Oliver! and so many other great shows. For a country kid, the late bus was a true lifeline and let me pursue new interests. Long may the late bus run!