Oskayak inks first high school U-pass
Oskayak High School is the first school in Saskatoon to offer a bus pass to students.
Catholic division and City of Saskatoon officials announced a universal bus pass — or U-Pass — at a ceremony Thursday at Oskayak.
The pass is offered as a pilot project to all students, who will get unlimited citywide bus access. The school pays a mandatory fee of $363 per student until the end of the school year.
Mayor Don Atchison told students the pass is critical to remove a key barrier to education at Oskayak — transportation.
Atchison praised Oskayak for becoming the first high school to sign up for a U-Pass, noting he would like to see more public and Catholic high schools fol- low suit. University of Saskatchewan students voted in a mandatory U-Pass in 2007 and Saskatoon Transit has been making inroads with its eco-pass, a discounted bus pass offered to employers. But inking a deal with high schools has been slow moving.
“This is about finding a common good for everyone,” Atchison said. “We want to use this as a blueprint for the future.”
Felix Thomas, chief of the Saskatoon Tribal Council, said the bus pass is an “instrument to success.”
Students who go to Oskayak are aboriginal and many come from out of town to attend, staying with family. More than 80 per cent of students use transit to get to school.
“School is work and it should be treated as a job,” Thomas said. “If we do it right (and give students the tools) then we can eliminate
“SCHOOL IS WORK AND IT SHOULD BE TREATED AS A JOB.”
FELIX THOMAS
the poverty, the gangs, the jails and make life better for you and your kids.”
Josh Linklater, a Grade 12 student at Oskayak, addressed a gymnasium full of his classmates at the an- nouncement, receiving a loud ovation.
Linklater says the bus pass is critical for students who often struggle to pay rent. It will also help get students to part-time jobs, day care or events across the city.
“A lot of us struggle to get around and this will help,” Linklater said. “But this isn’t a speech of selfpity, but of gratitude and to thank people for giving us this privilege.”