Schools facing busing issues

Some Grand Manan students had a difficult start to the school year with a reduction of school buses from four to three. Parents and students have reported confusion with schedules and overcrowding on buses, and the Anglophone South School District is working to address the problem.
Last year a transportation project at the St. Stephen Education Centre examined busing in partnership with the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development and the Anglophone South School District. District Superintendent Zoe Watson says student enrollment across southern New Brunswick is declining "and each year areas are examined to determine if we can identify an opportunity to decrease by one yellow bus and still meet with requirements of having adequate seating for the students." A Grand Manan driver retired this summer "and this would be the time to examine the Grand Manan runs. We are working to standardize transportation procedures. The district transports all students who live 1.5 kilometres and beyond from their school."
This year the school reports 343 enrolled students, with 292 eligible for ridership outside the 1.5-kilometre radius. The buses are intended to carry 70 passengers, with three per seat for grades five and below. Watson says, "This school in 2001 had 446 students, in 2010 it had 364 students and last year the official enrollment was 320 students. This means since 2001 the school has declined in students by 126, and if we look at the last five years, we have declined by 44 students. We have had four buses on the island, and the goal is to work toward having three buses. Given the limited distances, for the most part the buses can make two runs of students and this helps. We are conscious of the White Head ferry coming into play, as we have to get our students back home."
Parents were not happy about the change. "Some of the buses had 88 children on them -- three to a seat -- and my grandson is five and has to walk to school from the top of the Hill Road. He's way too young to be walking," Cantrese Clinch says. Angela Guthrie reports, "My not quite 5 year old was stuffed in three to a seat, first day of school, sweating and on there for an hour. The kids were getting rowdy, and with 80‑plus kids on there, some junior high students, it was rather intimidating. He has not wanted to go on since." Shawnna Ingalls adds, "I know kids that were sitting in the aisle and kids that had to sit four in a seat the first week of school." Kelly Stoddard says, "My daughter had to sit on someone's lap on her way home!"
Other parents have reported their children getting to school after the bell rings "crushed together like a sardine can" and begging to be picked up rather than having to ride the bus. One student was dropped off at the Boys' and Girls' Club "and no one knew where he was."
"It's not fair to them, and it's not safe," says Haze Badeau, "especially with winter weather on its way, and none of them even have seatbelts!"
"I feel bad for the bus driver, having to drive and try and keep control of all those kids at the same time as trying to get back to the school in time for the high school kids," Stephanie Gillespie says, adding that her children got off the bus feeling ill from the heat. "It's just a racket that hopefully will be figured out soon."
A fourth bus with a casual driver has been reinstated temporarily. Watson says, "Some refinements are in need of being made; staff... will be working with Principal [Sally] Cogswell as we work toward the transition from four yellow buses to three yellow buses." The fourth bus "will continue until we have had the opportunity to finalize and communicate the plan. There will be a communication plan for parents and notice given of any changes to runs or times."
The department will examine routing scenarios over the next two or three weeks. Parents agree that the temporary schedule is an improvement, but some remain apprehensive. "They are saying that the fourth bus is only temporary," Clinch says. "We can't have temporary."