Students urged to be ‘extra safe’ in the dark
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The Brandon School Division is asking students to take extra safety precautions during darker morning commutes due to permanent daylight time.
The division has not received reports of widespread concerns or unusual attendance issues since the province opted not to move clocks back on Nov. 1, but student and staff safety remains a priority, Supt. Jon Zilkey said Tuesday.
“I would say just take the extra precautions that you normally do when you’re walking in the dark” by staying in lighted areas as much as possible, he said.
Brandon School Division Supt. Jon Zilkey at his office at the BSD offices on Sixth Street in Brandon. (Tim Smith/The Brandon Sun files)
“Just be extra safe. Make sure cars can see you often in the dark. It’s much more challenging. So just take that extra time to be cautious.”
Zilkey said the division wants students, staff and everyone in the community to remain safe as families adjust to the new time arrangement.
The adjustment, he said, did create some administrative challenges, particularly with school calendars and scheduled meetings.
“The only concern probably we had was some calendars. We definitely had to do some work, and IT did a masterful job of getting all of our calendars back because we did have some meetings that were off by an hour that had to be adjusted,” he said.
Zilkey said the division will need more time to assess how the decision affects students, particularly during the winter months.
He identified potential benefits and drawbacks associated with keeping the same time throughout the year.
“The positive I would see would be just the lack of the change of hour keeps student and parent and adult patterns the same,” he said.
The spring time change has historically been more disruptive.
“We’ve noticed in the past that the March time change could be challenging, just because you lose that hour, and we found that to be a more challenging one than November.”
However, he said darker mornings could become a concern as winter sets in and students will increasingly be travelling to school before sunrise.
“Going to school dark in the morning will certainly be new, particularly in December, January,” Zilkey said.
He added that the division would pay particular attention to how students adjust during those months, when daylight will arrive later in the morning.
» aodutola@brandonsun.com
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