Background

The Division believes it is appropriate to establish procedures to be followed in assigning drivers to bus routes when vacancies occur or routes must be eliminated.

Procedures

1.      When filling vacant routes, drivers will be offered and assigned routes with consideration for their years of service (seniority) with the system in accordance with this administrative procedure.

1.1              All seniority is to be earned in the attendance area in question and service given in another school attendance area cannot be transferred.

2.      When routes are eliminated requiring that the services of a driver be terminated, the reassignment of driver(s) to routes in that school attendance area will give consideration to the years of service (seniority) with the system in that school attendance area and in accordance with this administrative procedure.

3.      Seniority shall be accumulated in accordance with Administrative Procedure 444.

3.1              If the seniority for two drivers happens to be identical, the supervisory personnel involved are to make the decision as to which driver is offered the job.

3.2              When a vacancy occurs in a school attendance area, the route shall be offered to each regular driver from that attendance area in order of accumulated seniority. The remaining vacant route shall be offered to spare drivers who have accumulated seniority for the attendance area in which the vacancy has occurred, regardless of whether or not their name appears on the list of approved drivers for that area. If, after this process, no one has accepted the route, the route will be advertised within the Division to provide an opportunity for regular or spare drivers from other attendance areas to apply. If the route remains vacant following an internal competition, the route will be advertised in the media and open to applications from the public. A summary of the process is as follows:

Step 1:  offered to the regular drivers from the attendance area where the vacancy has occurred, in order of seniority;

Step 2:  offered to spare drivers who have seniority for the attendance area where the vacancy has occurred, in order of seniority;

Step 3:  offered to all regular and spare drivers currently employed with the Division, regardless of their attendance area;

Step 4:  advertised in the local media and open to applications from the public.

3.3              When it becomes necessary to eliminate (a) route(s) in an attendance area, all routes in that attendance area are considered to be "Open" and they will be offered to the regular drivers from that attendance area in the order of their years of service (seniority) with the system in the attendance area in question.

3.3.1              It is likely that the person with the least seniority would be terminated unless one of the regular drivers elected to resign rather than to take a route available to him/her.

3.4              In the event of a school closure and the resulting elimination of a school attendance area, the Superintendent will, at that time, establish procedures to deal with that specific circumstance.

Reference:    Section 60, 61, 113, 117, School Act