A discrepancy over distance is fuelling a Moncton family’s fight for school bus rights.
By most accounts, Eliza Khan lives 2.5 kilometres from Bernice MacNaughton High School. That, according to the province’s busing policy, would make her eligible for a school bus, but the school district insists she is not.
They say they measure to the edge of the school property. According to information sent to the family, the walking distance is either 2.2 or 2.3 kilometres — both to the edge of the property — although a summary of Eliza’s file lists the distance as 2.19 kilometres.
Eliza’s mother, Galnashin Qureshi, has measured the distance door-to-door and has consulted Google Maps about possible routes and distances.
When she drives the route herself, it’s 2.7 kilometres. According to Google Maps, the fastest route is 2.7 kilometres via St. George Boulevard, while the shortest route is 2.5 kilometres via Bessborough Avenue. Either way, it’s still further than the province’s 2.4-kilometre threshold.
Again, according to Google Maps, the measurement to the end of the school’s driveway is 2.4 kilometres from her home.
After two years of riding the bus to Bernice MacNaughton High School in Moncton, Galnashin Qureshi and Irfan Khan can’t understand why their daughter no longer qualifies for transportation.
The district was asked to provide an interview with someone who could talk about busing issues, but Stephanie Patterson, the director of communications for Anglophone East School District, said no one was available.
Patterson said “the routing is done by home address to school property and if it is less than 2.4 km transportation is not provided as per provincial guidelines.”
When pressed, she said no distinction is made between walking and driving distances.
That, said Qureshi, should mean her daughter is eligible for the bus. After all, her walk doesn’t end at the foot of the school’s driveway. She said her daughter still has to walk the rest of the way to the school, so why would the district end their measurement there?
Why now?
Qureshi said she’s even more confused about this year’s decision because her daughter has been bused to Bernice MacNaughton for the last two years.
The family still lives in the same house, so Qureshi asked for an explanation. She was told the buses are too full.
In an email, Pat Steeves, the district’s assistant transportation manager, told Qureshi that all buses for Bernice MacNaughton “are full to capacity.”
“I do not have the additional resources (actual busses) to add to the routing system” for their neighbourhood, he wrote.
Patterson reiterated that.
“If transportation has been provided to students living closer to schools in the past, it was because we had the space capacity to do so. We are no longer in that position due to the unprecedented growth” in the district,” she said.
At the beginning of the school year, Randolph MacLean, Anglophone East’s superintendent, said enrolment topped 20,100, up about 900 from last year.
More students means more teachers, bus drivers and other support staff are needed, along with supporting infrastructure like buses.
Parents expressed similar concerns about overcrowding in a community Facebook page, including mentions of three students to every seat and parents driving their children to school to avoid the problem.
One parent mentioned the issue of the 2.4-kilometre cutoff. She wrote, “It seems that they are measuring from the end of the road by St. George [Street]. It is another 3/4 of a km to the spot where the bus drops the kids off. The kids on the bus are not dropped off at this spot so why is the distance the kids walk not measured the same?”
And if the buses are so crowded, said Qureshi, why not add another bus.
Patterson said such questions about resources fall under the purview of the provincial government.
A spokesperson for the Department of Education was asked the question earlier this week, but has not yet provided an answer.
Longest walks in the Atlantic provinces
At 2.4 kilometres, New Brunswick has the biggest exclusion zone of any Atlantic province.
In Nova Scotia, students must live 1.7 kilometres away before busing is allowed, while in Prince Edward Island, the minimum distance for eligibility is one kilometre.
Earlier this year, Newfoundland and Labrador got rid of its 1.6-kilometre limit altogether. With the elimination of the rule, an additional 11,000 students are eligible for a seat on a bus this year.
The province estimates it will cost about $20 million this year, including the purchase of 78 new school buses — 33 to update the current fleet and an additional 45 to accommodate students who are now eligible for busing.
Irfan Khan said his daughter is so tired after the walk — 33 minutes and 2.4 kilometres according to Google Maps — that she has trouble concentrating for the first couple of classes.
And that’s with the nice weather so far. Khan worries about his daughter having to make the trek through poor weather and eventual snow.
So far, Qureshi has driven her daughter nearly every day, forcing her to leave work to do so. She said it usually takes about 30 minutes for each drop off and pick up — time she has to make up at the end of her work day.
Why not use public transit?
Khan wonders why the district doesn’t just put his daughter on a Codiac Transpo bus. He said it would, as a bonus, instill an appreciation for public transit, which is ultimately good for the environment.
Patterson was asked that question three times in a series of emails that ended with the response, “The District and Codiac Transpo are separate entities.”
CUPE Local 1253, which represents school bus drivers, previously said a shortage of drivers is to blame for so many route cancellations this year.
Despite repeated attempts to several union officials, no one responded to an interview request.
The Department of Transportation was asked for statistics about driver shortages last week. On Thursday evening, the department provided the number of funded bus driver positions in each district, but nothing on shortages. The spokesperson wrote that “current vacancies are managed by school districts.”
The spokesperson, Diana Chávez, was specifically asked whether measuring to the edge of a school property — rather than door-to-door — was acceptable, but she didn’t answer the question, responding only that “Districts are responsible for following provincial and District Education Council regulations and policies.”
