Whitehorse student can't catch the school bus despite living next door to bus company

Nine-year-old Maxwell Gammel can see the school buses from his backyard, but they pass by on their way into Whitehorse without him. 

The Grade 4 student goes to Takhini Elementary. His mother, Danille Degagne, lives on the Alaska Highway, next door to the office of Standard Bus, the company that operates school buses in the city.

For the second school year running, Degagne said, the company refuses to let Maxwell board the school bus at the Standard yard, or at a transfer point at a nearby gas station.

"They pass by me every day to take the kids to school and pick them up," Degagne said. "And they will not pick up my son, be it here or at the transfer spot.

"I've offered to stand there in the yard with my son and be at this transfer spot. They just said no, they didn't want to break rules for just one kid."

Degagne said Maxwell has ADHD, and suggested that may have something to do with the company's decision. She also said physical distancing requirements as a result of COVID-19 may make it harder for him to get a spot on the bus.  

Degagne said the territory's education department told her to take the issue up with Standard.

"Now everybody's just throwing up their hands saying, 'our hands are tied. Sorry,'" she said.

'Parents are now having to make pretty tough decisions'

The manager of Standard Bus declined to be interviewed, but said the company simply follows rules laid out for busing by the department of education.

This year, because of COVID-19, the education department is giving school bus priority to students who live more than 3.2 kilometres from their school and who go to the school nearest them.

In an email, department spokesperson Kyle Nightingale said the department is working through "a high volume of [bus] registrations and questions over the last two weeks.

"As we review these newer registrations and confirm ridership and space on the buses we'll continue to notify eligible families with their school bus numbers and let families requesting school busing know if they can be accommodated on the school bus."

Yukon Party education critic Scott Kent said he's heard numerous reports of parents not being able to get their kids on the school bus for various reasons, including a lack of space and last-minute schedule changes.

"Some parents are now having to make pretty tough decisions around that, around their work and their employment and obviously getting their kids to school," he said.

A half-hour walk to a transit stop

Degagne said last year Standard Bus suggested walking to a city transit stop at Robert Service Way, but that's a 30-minute walk.

"If there was a sidewalk that would be more realistic and manageable," Degagne said. "I mean, more inconvenient because it's extremely far away. But I could do it. [But] there's no sidewalk at all." 

Degagne doesn't drive, citing the trauma from a serious car crash when she was a child. She's managed to make it work with Maxwell, thanks to help from his dad's family members, who give Maxwell a drive to school most days.

She said part of the solution may be to have Maxwell stay with his dad in town more often. Maxwell will be able to get to class, but will miss out on bonding time with his six-week-old baby brother Lloyd.

"It's very disheartening to think about my son losing time with his brother," Degagne said. "It's his only sibling. He's never going to be able to get this time back."