Coaches, pull out your whistles and your snow tires

By Tina Comeau

THE VANGUARD

NovaNewsNow.com

For people contemplating whether to put snow tires or all season tires on their vehicles next winter, the Tri-County Regional School Board may have made up their mind for them.

Specifically if these people – like parents, teachers or coaches – intend to transport students to and from extra curricular or sporting activities in their own vehicles that have been authorized by the board.

The school board is considering making changes to a policy it has relating to non-board owned vehicles that transport students to and from school-organized activities.

The biggest change, should the policy go through, is anyone transporting students in non-board owned vehicles will be required to have four snow tires on their vehicles between Nov. 15 and April 15.

All season tires will not be allowed.

The school board says the policy also would not allow rental vehicles to be used if they don’t have snow tires.

The reason for the policy change, board staff say, is strictly safety.

“We feel very strongly about this policy,” the board’s director of operations Steve Stoddart said at the board’s last policy committee meeting, where board members were shown a video that clearly demonstrated that snow tires have better traction and stopping ability on slippery road conditions.

There are still some outstanding questions about the policy, like who will be responsible for policing the tires and ensuring that they are in good condition, not balding.

The policy is still in draft form and will come back to the policy committee at least once more for discussion before it is sent out for public consultation.

It was suggested during the last policy committee meeting that the policy had not been updated since 1996, back in the days of the now-defunct Southwest Regional School Board.