School board bends bus policy for disabled parent
Mom has been keeping son home when she’s unable to walk him
KITCHENER — Sherrie Moore beams in her wheelchair, knowing her son Brady will get safely to kindergarten.
She’s persuaded the public school board to put him on a school bus through June, even though the family lives too close to Wilson Avenue Public School to qualify for busing.
“I feel good in a way but in a way I don’t,” she said. “I don’t want to fight this fight every year.”
Brady, 5, has no disability and under board rules is supposed to walk to school because it is less than 800 metres away. Moore has cerebral palsy and can’t move far without her electric wheelchair. The chair isn’t reliable outside and she can’t walk Brady to school in wet or winter weather.
Moore won’t let her son walk to school with older students. She’s been keeping him home on days when she’s unable to walk with him.
“I’m probably overprotective but nowadays you kind of have to be,” she said.
She said no other parent could be found to walk Brady to school or to drive him.
The school board has now agreed to put Brady on a bus that passes nearby. It says it’s bending its policy out of compassion and won’t promise to bend again next year.
“We will work together with parents to find ways to get children to school,” said Nick Manning, spokesperson for the Waterloo Region District School Board. The board puts the needs of children first while weighing options and costs, he said.
The public board spends about $15 million annually on busing. It requires many students to walk to school or transport themselves, depending on their program or where they live. It’s not uncommon for parents to demand busing for children who don’t qualify.
Four trustees now want board policy changed, to ensure that disabled parents are offered permanent busing or other ways to reach school if they can’t get their children there.
Trustee Cindy Watson is not concerned about irking
I feel like I should be getting some kind of help. I enjoy walking (Brady). It’s just on rainy days and winter, I can’t do it. — SHERRIE MOORE
parents who have been denied busing in different circumstances, saying the board decides exceptions case-by-case.
Human rights law provides uncertain direction if the disabled parents of ablebodied children make busing demands.
In 2012, a Sudbury-area mother hobbled by multiple sclerosis demanded busing for her two children who don’t qualify for seats. Ontario’s human rights tribunal denied her request. In 2013, a Halton-area mother with an injured spine demanded a closer bus stop for her two children already on a school bus. The tribunal ordered the stop moved.
Moore’s other son Ryder will attend kindergarten in two years. She may reach out to the rights tribunal to help seek a permanent resolution.
“I feel like I should be getting some kind of help,” she said. “I enjoy walking (Brady).
“It’s just on rainy days and winter, I can’t do it.”