School Bus Association and government continue dialog | THE DAILY HERALD

June 14, 2018

PHILIPSBURG–The first round of a series of weekly meetings between the St. Maarten School Bus Owners Association (SSBOA) and the Government of St. Maarten spearheaded by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport (ECYS) ended with a number of conclusions, agreements and an enhanced relationship between the two entities.

School bus transportation has had the Ministry’s attention for the last three years, as matters related to improved safety of students and efficiency and increased cost resulted in a Council of Ministers decision in 2017 to introduce adjusted measures to streamline services.
The assignment was given to the Ministries of ECYS and Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) to prepare and present adjusted policies. The Department of Education has advanced in its preparations, resulting in a draft national decree vetted by Legal Affairs in 2017.
Shortly after entering office, ECYS Minister Jorien Wuite and members of her cabinet held an introductory meeting with representatives of the SSBOA in January 2018. Various topics were discussed in that meeting and the SSBOA expressed a number of concerns to the Minister. These concerns centred mainly around the areas of safety and transportation, physical damage to bus owners’ property and a stagnant fee structure that had been in place and in need of updating for a number of years.
In response, Minister Wuite scheduled a series of meetings with the Association alongside representatives of the Department of Education, the TEATT Ministry and the Police Force of St. Maarten, with the intention to intensify consultations for improved school busing and student safety in St. Maarten.
“There have been attempts in the past to strengthen the relationship between the Association and this Ministry. For a variety of reasons, the relationship never progressed. One of the goals that I wanted to accomplish, besides recovery and resilience efforts of the Ministry, was to be able to work along with the school bus owners to find sustainable and long-lasting solutions,” Wuite said.
One of the meetings highlighted the progress to date in the advancement of the draft national decree. This decree highlights government’s role to children subject to compulsory education who cannot reasonably go to school without the support of government.
The decree regulates responsibilities of parents, mode of payments, application and special transportation. All agreed that the preparation, implementation date and impact require further review due to the impact of Hurricane Irma and that the draft legislation of the TEATT Ministry needs to advance to regulate matters of safety, inspection, insurance, rates and routes.
One concern of the school bus operators had to do with matters of traffic and road safety. A representative of the Police Force was invited to meet with the Association and the Department of Education and consensus and agreements were established whereby three student loading zones for buses were established.
The first zone is proposed to be right before the Freedom Fighters roundabout (going to Sucker Garden) as opposed to the intersection by the old SZV; another student loading zone in the opposite direction, across from the old SZV (going to the police station) will be established and a third loading zone for Oranje School at the junction by GEBE was identified by the stakeholders.
It was acknowledged that these zones should minimise hindrance to the flow of traffic and the Police Force has agreed that no fines shall be given to buses parked in these zones. It was also decided that for the purpose of ensuring students’ safety (although not formally a traffic rule) school buses will be allowed to diagonally block oncoming traffic when students are crossing the road.
The Police Force also encouraged bus operators to share information on inappropriate behaviour on the bus or any other pertinent information with the police. Behaviour management on the bus was another major concern identified by the Association, as recurring fights and vandalism make student safety and safe transportation more challenging.
To address this concern the Ministry formed a sub-committee with members of the Association and Police Force who will create a marketing and information awareness campaign aimed at informing parents, students and the general public of appropriate behaviour inside and in the vicinity of school buses.
As part of the campaign a new School Bus Owners Association logo was designed, and a series of jingles and posters are being worked on to be rolled out over the summer and at the start of the new school year.
One of the final major grievances identified by the Association was in relation to a freeze in tariffs that has been in place for some time. The Association contends that these fees have never been adjusted to accommodate the rise in the cost of living since the 1980s and along with recent budget cuts and physical damage caused by Hurricane Irma, this has created added financial difficulties for bus operators.
Recognising the complexity of this, Minister Wuite invited TEATT Ministry representatives to work alongside the ECYS Ministry and the Association to take a look at possible solutions, as the school bus routes are established by the TEATT Ministry.
Several proposals were tabled for discussion and investigation, one of which included the Association members taking on more responsibility and control of the busing system themselves. As a result of that consultation, the design of a new bus service system that would ensure efficiency, increased safety for students and fairness for operators was presented for consideration.
“I am in support of such an important decision to further renew our school bus transportation services with the introduction of the National Decree, with an introduction date in the future. The Association has held meetings with their members who also support this direction and this should be applauded,” Wuite said on Thursday.
The SSBOA is currently in the process of advancing with a plan and proposal to consider introduction of school busing “new style” for the school year 2018-2019.
The Association was established in November 1981 with more than 36 years of experience. Its objectives have continued to include the protection of the interest of school bus drivers as well as the provision of safe and efficient student transportation in St. Maarten.
The SSBOA currently has a membership of more than 30 bus operators who provide regular and extracurricular school bus service to children living in all districts who attend primary and secondary schools.