December 6th, 2014

Mrs. Givlin and I have contacted Student Transportation of Waterloo Region as well as Sharp Bus Lines, in an attempt to obtain a clearer understanding of the policy regarding students taking instruments home on the bus. The official rule is that for safety reasons instruments, backpacks, and all other items must fit on the student’s lap, taking up no more than half the seat area, and not extend above the top of the seat or into the aisle. We were provided with maximum dimensions of 18″ x 10″ x 10″ (45 x 25 x 25 cm). This will essentially restrict instruments on the bus to flutes or clarinets. Complicating the matter further, it is possible that some bus drivers may enforce this policy more strictly than others, resulting in confusion. It is also important to note that if a driver allows a student to take a larger instrument home at night (there are usually less students on the afternoon bus), the student may not be allowed to take it back to school in the morning, when the buses are usually full. Regardless, we are not able to ask or expect drivers to “bend the rules”, and we would respectfully request that parents do not either.

While we encourage students to take their instruments home to practice, we understand that parents may not be able to arrange transportation to allow this to happen. We have been informed the WRDSB is in the process of drafting their own policy on this matter. At this point, we will need to wait to see the results of this process.

Mr. MacQueen