Released: August 26, 2009

At the August 25th board of education meeting of the Parksville-Qualicum school district over 50 families were in attendance to hear the board’s response to a number of options presented earlier this month regarding bus transportation. The meeting comes on the heels of the district’s decision to remove eight busses from the district’s transportation system, a decision which will affect over 800 students. Many questions were raised however few answers were provided. 

The busing crisis comes as a result of funding levels remaining unchanged since 2002 and the school board facing an annual deficit of $80,000. The budget shortfall is compounded by the necessity to retire eight buses from an aging fleet of 42 buses. Both of which the school district has been aware of for a number of years. Parents were only informed of the situation in March 2009.

“We feel that the Parksville-Qualicum school district has not sufficiently addressed the safety concerns parents have expressed. Children’s supervision while on school premises before and after school hours remains an issue of serious concern”, said Ryan Ogilvie, a parent volunteer of the Get On The Bus campaign. “Parents have raised several possible solutions. The district seems unwilling to find ways to minimize the impact of reduced bus service,” said Oglivie. 

“We have no indication that all stakeholders have been properly consulted. We will therefore continue to raise safety concerns with our school trustees, city councilors, and other elected officials. The school district needs to appreciate the risks associated with cutting bus service, therefore forcing young students to walk along unpaved and unlit roads or crossing high traffic roadways,” said Célyne Gagnon, a parent volunteer with the Get On The Bus campaign.

The Get on the Bus campaign has been created by a group of local parents to voice strong concerns over the impact of cuts to their public school bus system. With the help of the Canadian Parents for French national and provincial offices, this campaign called for a review of the decisions and urged the School District to consider alternative solutions.  

With less than 13 days before school begins parents of children who are considered “cross boundary” are left scrambling to arrange alternate transportation. A number of parents have already indicated the only option is to pull their children from their district program of choice.

For additional information, please contact: Ryan Ogilvie (250-752-9891); Trish  Lubnikoff (250-248-6737);
Célyne Gagnon (250-752-8798) or Susan Blyt (after 5pm: 250-951-0566).

For more information about Canadian Parents for French BC & Yukon, please visit our website: www.cpf.bc.ca