The wheels on the bus go round and round and round: Long rural bus route worries parents

In the countryside served by the Anglophone West School District, long bus rides for students are "the norm," the district says. 

Sarah Kennedy says this norm has her daughter, who is in Grade 1, coming home from school not wanting to talk to or look at anyone and going straight to bed.

This girl spends 2½ hours on the bus every day to get to and from her home in Youngs Cove to the Cambridge-Narrows Community School, normally about a 20-minute drive each way.

"They're tired by the time they get to school," Kennedy said of students in the southern New Brunswick community who must take a school bus. "By the time they get home from school, they're completely exhausted.

"Then sometimes we're faced with trying to do homework and suppertime and a lot of the kids just, they don't want to function by the time they get home, and I can't blame them."

When she can, Kennedy said, she will drive her daughter, but she's on disability now, so it's only an option on good days.

Craig Dykeman said his daughter, Keva, is in a similar situation. She just started kindergarten in September and rides the bus 80 minutes each way to get to the K-12 Cambridge-Narrows school.

He said Keva was excited to start school, but now, with the long bus ride, isn't as thrilled.

"She's pretty darn tired after the end of the day," Dykeman said. "She's had enough. She's getting harder to wake up in the morning, too." 

He also said it is hard to expect children to sit still for that long without getting into trouble or falling asleep.

Dykeman said he's contacted the district about his concerns and has received only the generic response that the district is looking into it.

A spokesperson confirmed the district has heard from parents about the bus route.

In an emailed statement, Jennifer Read said that in mid-September, the superintendent and other executives met to discuss the parents' concerns.

The Anglophone West School District covers nearly a third of the province, said Read, and more than 18,000 students are eligible for busing.

"Planning routes is a strategic endeavour, and changes have a domino effect," she wrote.

At their meeting, district officials looked at changing bus runs or times, Read said, but determined those options weren't "feasible with the resources in place and without adding time to other students' days."

CBC News asked the district if the long route was a result of cuts to the bus fleet but did not receive a response before publication.

Kennedy said she tries to send her daughter with colouring books to keep her entertained, but it doesn't help with the  exhaustion. She said her daughter would normally go outside and play with her pony after school, but no longer feels like doing even that.

She also said her daughter has told her the day and the bus ride are too long, and she doesn't want to do it anymore. 

Caroline Price, a child and youth therapist based in Fredericton, said a reaction like this to going to school could be a result of some anxiety worsened by the long commute.

"You might see an increase in school avoidance, having a lot more tummy aches, more headaches, more tension, that kind of stuff, in order to avoid going to school altogether," she said.

Price said although nobody enjoys a long commute, for a child, it is even worse. With only 24 hours in a day and young kids needing nine to 12 hours of sleep a day, an especially long school day leaves little time for fun activities or family time.

In her work, Price said, she has four pillars of health that she covers: sleep, nutrition, movement and self-care, which encompasses downtime and socialization. 

If any of those pillars of health aren't met, she said, it creates an imbalance.

"This could be like, you know, having some increase in anxiety symptoms or increase in depressive symptoms, like, you know, just feeling more lethargic … feeling more tired, more sad, maybe we're less likely to engage in activities that we previously enjoyed," said Price.

"That kind of creates a bit of a cycle in terms of a declining mental health."

She said an especially long day could also affect a child's ability to sustain attention, especially for those with learning disabilities or diagnoses such as ADHD. 

Kennedy and Dykeman also said that after school, the younger kids play outside for an hour every day until the older kids are done and ready to get on a bus, making for an even longer day. Kennedy said she understands that this is part of being at this school and she can accept it.

But she would like to see the district address the long bus ride and maybe add a bus or two for the area.

"If they could find ways to break up the routes so the kids can have shorter days on the bus, that would make a huge difference."