Advertisement

Calgary bus driver fired after picking up kids in her own car when school bus wouldn’t start

Extreme cold in Calgary could cause school bus delays and officials are warning parents not to let children wait alone.

There is something about the morning school routine that triggers something deep inside of us. These daily acts of getting our children safely from home to school, their first forays into negotiation the outside world without direct supervision, they are more important than we may consciously realize.

Bus drivers and crossing guards are the unofficial guardians of our children at the start and end of every school day; they hold a special place in society. We entrust in them our children, we rely on them to guide them to the doors of education, and home again.

Yet too often when these people embrace that role, they are censured, punished and have their jobs terminated. In Calgary, a bus driver was recently fired after doing what she thought was best for the children.

CTV Calgary reports Kendra Lindon was fired after picking up children in her own vehicle after her school bus failed to start.

[ Related: Ticket system for pot possession pushed by some Tories ]

The temperature on the day in question was freezing, so cold that a school bus failed to work. So cold that children, left standing on the side of a road waiting for a bus that would never arrive, were in danger of suffering frost bite or worse.

Lindon refused to let the children down. She jumped in her SUV and did her rounds, picking up six kids she found waiting on her route and dropping them off at school.

Why didn't she wait for a replacement bus? Because the last time her bus wouldn't start, a replacement was promised but never arrived. The children were literally left out in the cold.

Some kids didn't have seat belts in the SUV, and the concern of having children jump into a strange vehicle is worthy of some consideration.

But Lindon did what she thought was right, what she thought was responsible. She showed accountability, she should dedication and she showed care. She was punished. But we would be lucky if those children learned something from her actions.

[ Related: No political points to be scored after dead soldier’s mother receives one-cent cheque ]

In Toronto, a crossing guard famous for her penchant for dancing and singing was censured in December and told the party was over. Kathleen Byers was told her dancing did not follow proper procedures.

In January, a Saskatchewan school bus driver was fired after expressing concern about the safety of her vehicle.

Bus drivers have a unique role in our children's lives. They, along with monitors and crossing guards, are among the first human faces we present to our youths. They are not their parents, they are not their teachers. They are the shepherds that guide our children during their first steps into the outside world. They are trusted to epitomize society's preferred traits.

Responsibility, dedication, joy and honour of duty. These are things we should be teaching our children to cherish.

Want to know what news is brewing in Canada?
Follow @MRCoutts on Twitter.