CBE changes earn failing grade
Early bell times, higher fees put rising strain on parents and kids
Families with kids in the public school system will face a swath of challenges as students head back this fall — from bell time changes to early dismissals on Fridays, along with higher fees for transportation and lunchroom supervision.
But even kids settling into routines similar to last year’s are still struggling with extremely early starts or late ends to their days to accommodate busing or alternative programs.
Teresa Nelson-Keller has two kids attending a special-needs program for gifted students at Louis Riel School in Oakridge. Most days they’re up well before dawn to get to class by 7:55 a.m. She manages to drive them in the morning before heading to work. But with both of them taking the bus home to the community of Auburn, they ride for more than an hour and still don’t arrive home until well after 4 p.m.
“It’s a really long day. And they have to go to bed so early to wake up again for the next day — it’s tough to have them participate in any sort of evening activities,” she said.
“I mean, you want your kids to be well-rounded. But they also need their sleep, especially in junior high when they are growing so much.”
Nelson-Keller’s kids are not technically in a program of choice, although Louis Riel is far from their home. But even when Nelson-Keller checked to see if her kids could attend their community school, she was told it was full, with average class sizes up to 33 students and some classrooms overflowing into hallways and the gym stage.
CBE officials say many schools have early starts to accommodate a second bus run to deal with later starts at other schools, some as late as 9:20 a.m.
But more CBE schools than ever, up to 90 per cent, are also moving to early dismissals on Fridays, not only to accommodate busing but to give teachers more professional development time.
Rachel Sutherland, whose daughter is in Grade 2 at Sunnyside School, says many working mothers are struggling to find child care on Friday afternoons, in addition to 10 full professional days, Easter and Christmas holidays.
“A lot of parents are really struggling with this. And when we ask the school why it’s necessary, we’re told the school is mandated to align bell times with other schools,” Sutherland said.
“How much more professional development time do teachers need? There are already so many full professional days.”
Barb Silva, spokeswoman for Support Our Students, argues that constant changes in scheduling occurs for busing, not pedagogy.
“What has become the biggest problem is inconsistency. Year over year over year, everything changes — bus times, bus stops, bell times, even your school,” she said. “Families cannot plan accordingly and it is a tremendous burden.”
In addition to scheduling challenges, some CBE parents will face higher fees. After a $35-million funding shortfall in this spring ’s budget, transportation fees will go up by 4.5 per cent for students in alternative programs and lunchroom supervision fees by 3.9 per cent for kids in elementary.
The biggest impact would be to those in alternative programming, who were never eligible for transportation rebates through the province’s Act to Reduce School Fees, introduced in 2015-16. The act applies only to students attending regular programming in their designated schools.
That means students on yellow buses who were paying $335 will have to pay $350, while fees for students requiring lunchroom supervision will go from about $285 to $296.
But even as fees increase, many alternative program students — including those in French immersion and Spanish bilingual programs — will have to catch buses at congregated stops, which may be significantly more than walking distance from their homes.
Meanwhile, the CBE also continues to move toward two bell systems, early and late, so that bus drivers can transport twice the number of students to save costs.
Much of the challenge, says Lisa Davis, trustee for Wards 6 and 7, is the annual $3 million in carbon tax levied by the province, forcing the CBE to cut bus service.
“I know there are families still struggling with changes in bell times and busing. Busing is one area where we can’t absorb increasing costs without cutting service. It’s extremely difficult to stand in front of a single parent and tell her that we are reducing service to pay for increased fuel costs. We will continue to work with the province to strive for long-term solutions.”
Carrie Edwards, director of transportation for the CBE, said the board and schools usually discuss whether they want to move to
Everything changes — bus times, bus stops, bell times, even your school. Families cannot plan accordingly and it is a tremendous burden.
early dismissals on Fridays, confirming that nearly 90 per cent of CBE schools will have early dismissals at least one day of the week.
“Some parents like it, others don’t. It depends on their circumstances,” she said.
Changes in bell times can occur for two reasons, Edwards explained: either to accommodate bus routes and match schools with others in the area that also have early dismissals, or to allow staff to use the time for professional development.
“It could be within walking distance, it could be beyond a walkable distance.
“Throughout our engagement, parents have told us they want programs of choice,” Edwards said, adding that the number of students in alternative programming has remained the same over the past several years, since congregated stops were introduced.