Student safety and accident insurance
- Details
- Published on Wednesday, September 9, 2015
Board of Trustees, Beautiful Plains School Division
Submitted Article
The Neepawa Press
The school year has started and with that, we hope you will remember to take great care of our students.
Young children are again out on the streets near the school and catching the bus in the surrounding areas and they don’t always take the precautions that they should to keep away from traffic, so traffic should take care to keep away from them. Be careful before and after school and generally around school buildings and facilities.
In particular, remember to stop when a school bus is showing its stop sign and flashing lights. The penalty for not doing so is $673.65 and that is nothing compared to the cost in money, time and heartache of any accident involving one of the students. The law says you should reduce your speed when you are near a school and in fact, you should reduce your speed if you see children on the sidewalk or along the roadway, because they don’t always look before jumping onto the road. Young bicyclists aren’t always in full control of their machines and the older ones, who are in very full control, may not be thinking of traffic as they make their showy moves.
At places where students cross the street or highway, we arrange for crossing guards, often taken from among the students themselves. Please give these young people learning about public service the respect they deserve and remember that they may not be able to judge your oncoming speed as well as a seasoned driver might. We give them high-visibility vests and bright coloured flags; give them your attention.
Student Accident Insurance
With all the care in the world, childhood is a time when there are accidents. Sadly, it’s sometimes the only way that some of life’s lessons are learned. The Manitoba School Boards Association has made an arrangement with Western Financial Group and Old Republic, a major insurance company, to provide accident insurance for your children at a very reasonable rate – as little as $14 per child per year. It covers the child 24 hours a day, all year (including the summer holidays) against accidents of all kinds, and provides services over and above those covered by Manitoba Health. It can even provide insurance when the child is out of province or out of the country on a trip. The low fee, and the extra coverage it provides, makes it a very good deal to look into. Accidents do happen, don’t they?
For information, go to www.studentaccidentinsurance.ca where the plan is fully described and application forms are available. Coverage starts on receipt of the premium and goes until the end of September 2016.
Let's all do our part to help our students enjoy a safe school year.
