Windsor school boards, parents, students fight mayor's proposed school transit cut

Windsor's English school boards are fighting the mayor's plan to redeploy Transit Windsor buses used by high school students to other routes in the city.

The buses, known as school extras, are used by high school students who pay regular fares to get to school.

Budget documents call the service a "concierge level of service for a small number of secondary students" but school administrators say "this statement could be nothing further from the truth."

In a joint letter to city council, the Greater Essex County District School Board and Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board said these 14 buses are used by 650 students every day.

The buses run to Vincent Massey, Holy Names, Riverside and St. Joseph's Catholic high schools.

In the city budget proposed by Mayor Drew Dilkens, Transit Windsor would eliminate these buses and increase service on other public routes in the city:

• Extending the Dougall 6 (Route 205) into Southwood Lakes to replace the school extras
• Change Parent 14 (Route 315) to service Devonshire Heights, currently covered by school extras
• Increasing the frequency of the South Windsor 7 (Route 240), Walkerville 8 (Route 135) and Route 115 (formerly Dominion 5)

The elimination of school extras is part of the Transit Windsor master plan and was previously pitched as part of the budget process last year by Couns. Kieran McKenzie and Fabio Costante before council voted against the amendment. 

School board administrators, in their letter to council, say eliminating the buses would increase traffic at high schools like Holy Names and Vincent Massey, complicate the morning commute for students which could lead to missed connections and missed classes, and could create safety concerns for students waiting on buses. 

Both boards said they were not consulted about the plan and found out through the media. 

"We would urge you to seriously reconsider the impact of eliminating these extra bus routes and commit to maintaining them as an essential service for the betterment of our community," wrote Emelda Byrne, director of education for WECDSB and Vicki Houston, director of education for GECDSB. 

Emmi Sud, whose son attends Riverside High School, wrote to council urging them to keep the buses available for students.

"He says the buses are always full and many students clearly depend on this method of transportation," wrote Sud. 

Vincent Massey student Chloe Skaine wrote to council saying the city needs to keep the buses running. 

"I'm afraid that many students will simply not show up to school," wrote Skaine.

"As a student of Massey, I feel as though we are being tossed aside and not having our needs met."

City council will discuss the budget on Jan. 27.