Brock resident's daughter spends two hours on the bus
May 08, 2008 - 11:38 AM
By Crystal Crimi
BROCK -- Applying southern school busing policies to the north is like forcing circles into squares, says Brock resident Andy White.
Mr. White attended the Durham District School Board's May 5 standing committee meeting to appeal for some kind of review of its current transportation policies.
"In north Durham, busing is essential because of the rural population and population density," said Mr. White.
His seven-year-old daughter is in the French Immersion program at McCaskill's Mills Public School in Cannington and has a two-hour bus ride. She leaves at 7:30 a.m. and gets home at 4 p.m. The ride's length creates hunger and bathroom issues, he said, and added because of her age, she has no homework to do on the bus or music to listen to and just sits and stares out the window.
He also knows of someone who dropped out of the French Immersion program because of the bus ride.
The bus is also mixed with elementary, high school, and special needs students. The board wouldn't create a two-hour class with that mixture, he said.
"I'm just merely pointing out," said Mr. White. "We're trying to prevent a tragedy from occurring." His transportation concerns didn't end with the ride time.
Mr. White's younger daughter is in senior kindergarten and currently attends McCaskill's Mills for which her parents have to arrange transportation, even though a bus with empty seats passes by her on its way to the school. Since it's not her home school now, she's not eligible for a bus. She'll be in French immersion in the next school year at which time she will be eligible for a school bus.
Busing and day-care locations were other concerns. Mr. White said they can get a bus to day care if it's within area, but the lack of day care options makes it especially hard to find one near the school.
Busing is part of the education experience, which requires a positive environment for success, said Mr. White, and asked if fiscal responsibility is worth the risk the transportation policy takes.
"I sympathise with Mr. White, coming from Scugog," said Scugog Trustee Joyce Kelly. She said they don't have public transit to hop on if transportation doesn't work out; cabs in the area are also limited.
"I appreciate what you're telling us and I'll be seeing what we can do about it," said Trustee Kelly.
School transportation is the biggest issue Uxbridge Trustee Joe Allin gets calls about, he said.
Trustee Allin doesn't think they need separate transportation policies for the north and south, but they need to empower the proper people to make good decisions where needed, he said. He also commented on the childcare issue.
It's important to hear directly from residents such as Mr. White, Trustee Allin added.
Recommend :