Pelican Falls High School is getting five new vans to transport students to and from the Sioux Lookout-area school.
Northern Nishnawbe Education Council Executive Director Norma Kejick tells us the new vehicles will be a huge help.
Staff can drive students from their school-provided housing to “medical appointments, sporting events, even just going to Dryden or a Timmies in Sioux Lookout for a coffee run. These vehicles are very important to our students and staff.”
She adds the vans they had been using to take students weren’t fit to be on the road, so staff had been using their own vehicles instead.
Pelican Falls High School was given the vans with help from a Thunder Bay car dealership and the federal government.
Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu notes the federal government provided around $93,000 for the vehicles.
Brad Folina with Half-Way Motors Nissan says he pushed his bosses to help secure the vans, noting the federal government provided enough money for “beyond four vans, but not nearly enough for five.”
Students and staff got the keys to the vans today and will drive them back to the school.
Each van seats 12, but Folina notes two seats can be removed to allow any G-licensed driver to legally drive them without specialized qualifications.
