A Red Deer woman faces charges of impaired and dangerous driving after the school bus she was operating struck a tree Monday afternoon in the Vanier Woods neighbourhood.

A witness who observed the collision called 911 after the school bus collided with a tree and a sign, then continued to drive for a short distance through Vanier Woods before stopping.

RCMP attended the scene of the collision on Valley Green at 4 pm along with Red Deer Emergency Services and fire staff.

EMS staff assessed the driver and the children who were on the bus and determined that no one had been injured in the collision.

The school bus contained elementary school age children between the ages of 5 and 12 years old.

Red Deer RCMP initiated an impaired driving investigation at the scene and continued that investigation into the evening, culminating in four criminal charges against the school bus driver.

42 year old Shelly Joy Kolodychuk of Red Deer faces the following charges:

• Criminal Code 253(1)(a) – Impaired operation of motor vehicle
• Criminal Code 253(1)(b) – Operate motor vehicle over 80mg
• Criminal Code 249(1)(a) – Dangerous operation of motor vehicle
• Criminal Code 252 – Fail to remain at scene of collision

Kolodychuk is scheduled to appear in court in Red Deer on July 12 at 8:30 am.

Prairie Bus Lines, who are contracted to provide student transportation services to the district, operated the bus.

The driver involved is an employee of Prairie Bus Lines, not the District.

Following the incident, a bus was dispatched by Prairie to take the remaining students home safely.

Red Deer Public Schools is shocked and angry after RCMP confirmed impaired driving charges have been be laid against a bus driver following an accident while students were being transported home from school.

“We are deeply concerned and shocked by this incident. Adults who serve our students carry a significant responsibility for their safety and care,” commented Stu Henry, Superintendent of Schools. “It is devastating when an adult betrays the trust we have with our students and parents.”

Board Chair Bev Manning commented, “It’s unthinkable that any adult would knowingly put kids in harms way. We are thankful for the RCMP and Emergency Services in dealing with the situation and keeping things safe for our students.”

The District will continue to monitor the situation and take every precaution to assure parents and students that this is an unfortunate and isolated incident.

The District and Prairie want to ensure student transportation services are safe for all of our students and will take every step to do so.


The following is a statement from Prairie Bus Lines:

As a result of the investigation and subsequent charges against the driver by the RCMP, we have taken the appropriate action to ensure our Safely Home commitment is upheld.

Prairie Bus Lines has a zero tolerance drug and alcohol policy in place.

This includes a process for testing when there is reasonable suspicion that an employee is under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

In this case, there were no visible signs of impairment prior to the driver’s afternoon departure.

Student safety is paramount to our organization.

We are grateful nobody was injured and that a rescue driver was able to take the children home safely in a timely manner.

 

 Earlier article:

On June 5, 2017 at 4:00 P.M. the Red Deer RCMP responded to a single vehicle collision involving a school bus.

The collision took place in the Vanier neighborhood and resulted in the school bus striking a tree and sign.

There were eighteen students on board the bus at the time of the collision; no injures were reported.

The school bus was transporting students from the Red Deer Public School system.

Police continue to investigate the cause of this collision and an update will be provided when available.