Changes to School District 27's bus routes are causing widespread concern among South Cariboo parents.
On Tuesday, June 11 the finance and transportation department recommended that SD27 reduce the number of bus stops along several routes through the district. In the South Cariboo, this included reducing the total number of bus stops in the 108 Mile Ranch from 12 to four which has proved unacceptable for several local parents including Chelsea Mahovlich, whose eldest son Jackson will be attending kindergarten at Mile 108 Elementary next school year.
"One of the biggest concerns we have are the safety aspects. They have reduced the stops and expect children are either walking further to bus stops or, if they live less than two point five kilometres from school, they're expected to walk to school," Mahovlich said. "I know a lot of parents, including myself, rely on that school bus so we can drop our child off at the bus stop and get to work."
These changes are being made to cut costs and to bring SD27 more in line with its existing policies according to Brenda Hooker, SD27's secretary-treasurer, who oversees the finance and transportation departments of the school district. She said that SD27 has been reviewing its transportation services for over a year, evaluating the cost of their routes and how their practices compare to other school districts.
"We looked at what our mandate is and how other districts in the province provide student transportation. The review indicated that our transportation practices are not aligned with our current policies and really far exceed what other school districts do provincially," Hooker explained. "It was identified our practices aren't suitable and not fiscally responsible to our main mandate, which is educating students."
Hooker said that since January the school board has discussed these changes at every meeting to come up with the best solution. At the finance and facility committee meeting on June 11, the plan to reduce bus stops and more closely regulate courtesy riders was unveiled.
"Our policy has always had a walk limit of three kilometres to a bus stop or to a school and we weren't following that direction. We're looking to adhere to that walk limit where possible and creating more transportation hubs, a central location where kids get picked up," Hooker said. "We have been doing that for a number of years in the Wildwood area and it works quite well."
Mahovlich said that the number one concern she and other parents share is the fact that the 108 Mile Ranch has no sidewalks, no streetlights and wildlife roaming throughout the area. Because she lives less than two and a half kilometres from 108 Mile Elementary, she said SD27 will be expecting her son Jackson, who is five, to walk all the way to school on his own, including during the winter.
"The main roads in the 108 are really bad because you do get people speeding or roads that are slick with no sidewalks," Mahovlich said. "If (the Cariboo Regional District) wanted to put sidewalks in, that would probably alleviate some of that safety concern for older kids."
Part of the reason SD27 has had so many stops is that they have been bussing students to their schools of choice. Up to 30 per cent of the students they bus, under SD27's policies, shouldn't be getting transportation to schools outside of their catchment zone, Hooker explained.
That being said, Hooker remarked SD27 has understood in the past that, especially in more rural communities, exceptions had to be made. Going forward they are planning to no longer add new school of choice and courtesy riders until the fall when they can verify the number of regular riders going to their catchment school.
"Any available seats will be made available for new school of choice and courtesy riders in the fall. The current school of choice and courtesy riders will be grandfathered in until they become catchment students," Hooker said.
Hooker noted that SD27 wants to avoid having to charge parents who want their children to ride the school bus. Some school districts charge up to 50 per cent of the cost to bus their students.
"We far exceed the provincial limits of what most districts spend on transportation. We spent probably about seven per cent more the average across the province," Hooker said. "For our school year ending in 2025, we are projecting to spend close to $6 million on transportation."
Mahovlich said she and the other parents feel overwhelmed by how abrupt the decision seemingly was. They're frustrated by the fact that, in their view, SD27 seemingly has no alternatives then these cuts.
"Something needs to be problem solved with it. We can't just leave it at 'now there's only four stops'," Mahovlich, said. "The changes right now, with what the safety issues are, I don't feel is acceptable."
The concerns of parents like Mahovlich were voiced by a group of 20 who attended SD27's public board of education meeting on June 25 to air their concerns. They were backed up by District of 100 Mile House Mayor Maureen Pinkney who wrote a letter summarizing the safety concerns and requesting SD27 reconsider the changes and conduct a site visit to understand the real-life conditions in the area.
"The proposed changes do not offer any significant benefits to justify the added risk and inconvenience. The slight reduction in bus ride time does not outweigh the considerable increase in walking time and the associated dangers," Pinkney said in her letter. "Many families in 100 Mile House, 108 Mile Ranch, and surrounding areas will be adversely affected, compounding daily stresses in an already challenging environment."
While these changes have now been approved, Hooker said SD27 has heard the concerns of the parents and plans to address them. The Transportation Department is considering retaining additional stops within the 108 Mile Ranch but noted that, due to last month's bus crash near Lac La Hache, they are still trying to finalize where these new stops will be located.
"The Transportation Department will be posting the finalized route changes on the SD27 website and will be contacting directly all families who reached out for information," Hooker confirmed. "That revised information will be ready by early August."
When told about Hooker's statements Mahovlich was cautiously optimistic but noted she couldn't say if it would address her concerns until she sees where the stops are located. Mahovlich said she and a team of six other parents are working to find new ways to make their voices heard and have reached out to Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson for help.
"We want to make (our) concerns more public knowledge in the hopes that it's a start to the change," Mahovlich remarked. "(We hope) to create some sort of plan that works for everybody the best we can. I understand it's hard to make everybody happy and not every plan is going to be effective for every person, but we have to do something about the safety risks."
Hooker invites anyone with questions or feedback about these changes to transportation to reach out to transportation.info@sd27.bc.ca.
