Only one of two children gets a bus ride to school
GORE BAY—A Gore Bay parent is upset and perplexed as to why one of his two young children is picked up at home from the school bus every day, but his other daughter is not because of Rainbow District School Board (RDSB) guidelines being followed by the Sudbury Student Services Consortium (SSSC). And, he says, this is with a school bus that is far from full every day.
“It’s unbelievable,” stated Ian Oliver, in an interview with the Recorder Tuesday. “It doesn’t make any sense at all. I can understand trying to save money, but this doesn’t make any sense, and I know other parents who have the same concerns and have sent in emails to the (SSSC). This is our children, and other parents’ children’s safety that is at risk.”
Mr. Oliver and his wife Jessica Labelle have two children: Eve, who is nine-years-old, and Tegan, who is seven. The family lives on Thorburn Street in Gore Bay. While Tegan is picked up on the school bus on Thorburn Street every day for school, Eve, the Grade 4 student, has to walk to school and back at the end of the day.
This is due to a policy in place through the Rainbow District School Board (RDSB) and its transportation service deliverer, the Consortium. Under section 2.4 of the policy it is stated that for elementary schools the minimum walking distances required to qualify for bus transportation is Kindergarten students (all are bused); Grades 1 to 3, students who live beyond a distance of 1.0 kilometres from the school they have to attend; and Grade 4 to 8 students who live beyond a distance of 1.6 kilometres from the school they have to attend. Students enrolled in a secondary school who live beyond a distance of 2.5 kilometres from the school also qualify for transportation.
Renee Boucher of the SSSC said, “what happens is that the SSSC needs to enforce policies set by local school boards for school busing. For students in Grade 1 to 3 if they live a distance beyond one kilometre from their school they are transported to school. But for those students in Grades 4-8, this changes to 1.6 kilometres. It is from Grade 3 to 4 that there is a difference from one kilometre to 1.6 kilometres. That’s the policy we are enforcing.”
“I understand when a parent says the bus is here anyway,and there is room on the bus for their child,” said Ms. Boucher, “this occurs many times during the school year. But we have to be consistent with our policies. I completely understand parents concerns, but we need to be consistent and follow the policies set by all four school boards we provide transportation services for.”
Ms. Boucher pointed out, “the four boards (including the RDSB) establish the policy for all the boards, and if you look throughout Ontario at other school boards, the average distance we have in place (to provide student busing) is lower than other boards.”
Ms. Boucher also explained, “sometimes when parents call and say the distance their child has to go to attend school is of a greater distance than the policy says, or the route they have to walk is unsafe, we have a safety investigator who looks at the traffic volume and the walking route the student may take. I know no sidewalks are a concern, but most of the roads within our service area do not have sidewalks. In Mr. Oliver’s case we will be taking another visual inspection of the street in the winter to see if we can do something.”
“It’s pretty incredible, it doesn’t make any sense,” said Mr. Oliver. “(RDSB trustee) Larry Killens has been great in providing information and direction on who we should be contacting and we’ve been talking to MPP Michael Mantha’s office and he’s got his people working on it. Grade 4 students are no longer allowed on the school bus if they live 1.6 kilometres or more from the school, and because of this we, and other parents, are putting our nine-year-old on the streets to walk to school, and parents have to worry about their safety and what could happen to them. My wife is a stay home mom right now, although she is looking at going back to work. It’s the community as well that I have a concern with; I know of four other kids on our street alone that have to walk to and from school every day because they can’t use the school bus.”
Mr. Oliver pointed out Thorburn Street has no sidewalks and has a three way intersection with one yield sign on it. “The SSSC told me that they have come out twice to assess the situation on our street, and said there is not much traffic and there are no concerns with safety.”
“There are no sidewalks on our street, and especially in the winter when the snowbanks build up the roads are narrow and there is no where for a car to go,” continued Mr. Oliver. He noted SSSC has indicated that they will come back in the winter and reassess the situation. “I would hate to see an accident happen for a decision to be made, that is why I’m trying to fight for change before any type of accident does occur.”
“And the bus that picks up Tegan every morning is not full,” said Mr. Oliver. “My wife helps put Tegan on the bus every day and then she walks Eve to school. He pointed out with the policy being 1.6 kilometres for students in Grade 4 to 8, “we’re like two houses from the boundary. If we lived two houses down the street this would not be an issue and Eve would be able to use the bus.”
Mr. Oliver has the opportunity to make an appeal in front of representatives of the four boards the SSSC provides transportation for including the Rainbow District School Board, next week. “The appeal is in Sudbury at 9:40 in the morning and we have 10 minutes.” He said to alleviate having to take a day off from work he has requested the appeal take place via conference call.
“It doesn’t make sense for my nine-year-old daughter to have to walk to and from school—we are on the other side of town, and there is all the elements of danger, including traffic,” said Mr. Oliver. “For them (SSSC) to come back and say our street corner is safe; there is a lot of traffic on the streets at that time of the morning with people going to work, school and court in Gore Bay. The Town is busy in the morning.”
As well, Mr. Oliver had contact the local OPP about looking at the corner of Thorburn Street in terms of safety issues. “But when I talked to one of the officers, he was pleasant, but didn’t really want to get involved.”
“I’m not going to give up on this issue,” stated Mr. Oliver. “I will continue making phone calls, writing letters and email and will be starting a petition after my appeal hearing. We are talking about kids safety. It is too risky to have young children walking that far too and from school every day.”
 guidelines being followed by the Sudbury Student Services Consortium (SSSC). And, he says, this is with a school bus that is far from full every day.){kind=link}