Families pay for own solution to CBE bus woes
Many students facing commute on two buses and a CT train each way
A group of public school parents in northeast Calgary has hired a private bus service, paying more than $1,000 each to deliver their children to school safely rather than face public transit commutes of two buses and a CTrain each way.
Their desperate, expensive move comes amid this fall’s controversial transportation changes at the Calgary Board of Education.
Students are facing fewer congregated stops further from their homes, along busy streets, or longer commutes by yellow bus or public transit.
Many in alternative programs, including middle school students as young as 10 years old, are facing public transit commutes involving two buses and a CTrain at a cost of $700 a year.
But the northeast families have found another option, collecting up to 66 kids at stops in the farreaching northeast communities of Redstone, Skyview Ranch, Cityscape, Saddleridge and Martindale before heading to Sir Wilfrid Laurier School in Radisson Heights.
The total cost is about $80,000 or $1,200 per child. But parents say they’re more than happy to pay, feeling it was a much safer alternative.
“We just felt we had to,” said Amory Hamilton-Henry, whose 10-year-old son would have had to take two buses and a CTrain to get from their home in Skyview to the school, offering what she says is a highly valued traditional learning program.
“We tried talking to the CBE about the issues, but we had no solution. Many of our parents are asking how it is even legal to expect children this young to be unsupervised on public transit.”
Aman Sood, who has a daughter in Grade 6 in the same program, said he was terrified to think she would have to negotiate two buses and a CTrain twice a day, every day.
“It just doesn’t feel safe,” he said. “The CTrain stations are dangerous, there is crime, sex assaults. What if she misses a bus or a train and she is left there at the station all by herself? It’s terrifying to think about.”
The CBE says it is the parents’ choice to enrol their kids in alternative programs and how they get them to school.
“Just as parents are able to make decisions about whether their children attend a regular program or an alternative program school, parents make decisions about how to get their children to school in the way that works best for their families,” CBE spokeswoman Megan Geyer said Friday.
“We have heard from schools that some parents and students have come together in different ways to solve their transportation challenges, which range from developing a bus buddy system to a walking school bus or a carpool network, or hiring their own bus charter service. We’re pleased to see school communities working together.”
Earlier this year, the Calgary Board of Education announced a series of changes to bus stops, routes and fees after the provincial government introduced new legislation providing free transportation, but only to students attending their designated regular programs and living further than 2.4 kilometres away.
After the CBE publicly blamed the new provincial legislation for their challenges, Education Minister David Eggen launched a full operational review of CBE’s finances this spring, including a thorough look at the transportation department.
Results of that review are expected this fall.
What if she misses a bus or a train and she is left there at the station all by herself? It’s terrifying to think about.