N.B. school bus cuts worry parents, mayor

New Brunswick parents are worried about how their children will get to school this September after a budget cut in the Department of Education forced many school districts to restrict which students get to ride the bus.

For the last three years, Gary Hall's eight-year-old son got on the school bus to Royal Road Elementary School in front of their Fredericton home.

But a $2-million cut in the education department's transportation budget this year means that Hall's five-year-old son, who is heading to kindergarten, and his brother will have to walk to school this fall.

Hall said he understands budget constraints but still wants his sons to take the bus to school.

"The bottom line is not dollars and cents: it's safety," he said.

"It's, in my opinion, safety outweighs a dollar every time."

Shelley McLeod, the manager of transportation for School District 18, said the Halls fall into an area that was provided courtesy bus service prior to the budget reduction.

"But when budgets are reduced courtesy services have to be reduced or eliminated in order to provide service for eligible [people]," McLeod said.

The provincial regulations for bus services say children who live more than 2.4 kilometres from their school have to be bused.

This year, District 18 will continue to provide service to some elementary students who live closer than the 2.4 kilometres from their schools. For Royal Road students, those who travel 1.9 kilometres and further will still be bused to school.

McLeod said the district's decision for this year is final.

Dieppe parent worried

Hall's situation is also being faced by parents in the Moncton area.

Paul Short said he's worried that his 12-year-old son Brandon and nine-year-old daughter Julia will now have to walk down Dieppe's busy Gauvin Road to school.

In previous years, the children took a 10-minute ride on the bus.

Short said it's not safe for his kids to walk down a street with heavy traffic. The father said the posted speed limit is 50 km/h but many vehicles are often speeding in the area.

"The majority of the drivers are exceeding that, probably 60, 70, 80 [km/h], I've seen," he said.

And it's not just parents who are upset about the possible changes.

The union representing school bus drivers has been distributing posters warning parents that bus routes could be eliminated.

Aubrey Kirkpatrick, the director of finance, administration and communications for School District 2, said nothing has been decided yet for this fall as far as school transportation changes.

"At this point I'm not aware of any changes, as we are reviewing our runs," Kirkpatrick said.

Kirkpatrick said parents will know by Aug. 1 whether their kids will get a bus ride to school.

Mayor raises issue with education minister

Hillsborough Mayor Donna Bennett said it's important that her rural community keeps its bus services because there are no sidewalks in the village except for Main Street.

So Bennett took the issue of school transportation cuts directly to new Education Minister Roland Haché recently and was surprised by the answer.

"He gave me assurance that if there's any risk involving the children, he said he would not put budgeting dollars ahead of the risks to the students and it was loud and clear to him that this was a high risk to our students," Bennett said.

The mayor said she believes her village will keep its old bus service after that conversation.