Parents wonder why other requests with shorter distances have been granted
Kelsey Brewster is questioning an Anglophone School District – West (ASD-W) busing decision that she believes puts her twin daughters at risk.
Layla and Peyton are six years old. Their family lives at the end of the Airport Road in Grafton. Brewster says the road is heavily wooded, has a dangerous blind spot, and often sees wildlife wandering the roadway.
Despite multiple requests, ASD-W is refusing to pick up Brewster’s children at their driveway, 0.7 km from the end of the road. Instead, the children are dropped off on Route 585.
“I first contacted the district about it last year, and they did nothing,” said Brewster. “I probably should have pursued it more then. This year, I have spoken to them a few times about it, but I just keep getting denied.”
Brewster said it’s not the distance that is the problem, but the dangerous blind turn that poses a real threat to her children.
“There is a very bad blind spot on the road, and I have seen many people whip around that turn,” she said.
After writing the district again in September, Brewster received a response from Beverley Culberson, Assistant Transportation Manager for the Woodstock Education Centre.
“The Director of Finance went out to Airport Road and did a site visit,” she wrote in an email. “There are no safety concerns with the drop-off on Route 585 for students living on Airport Road. With the entire road being less than one kilometre, it is in keeping with policy to keep the drop-off at the corner with Route 585.”
Current ASD-W policy is that students who live within one kilometre of a designated bus stop are expected to walk there, rather than be picked up at their driveway.
Culberson told Brewster that the District “encourages parents to be present to collect their children as that is the best practice to ensure student safety, and parent responsibility begins at the bus stop.”
Besides being unsafe, Brewster feels that the denial is unfair.
She said that she has spoken with other parents who have been accommodated in situations where less distance is involved, pointing to an instance where students on Westview Street in Jacksonville are dropped off 0.3 km from the intersection with Route 585.
Brewster requested an explanation as to why a bus was making an exception for that road and not hers. Her inquiry went unanswered.
Paul MacIntosh is the Director of Communications for ASD-W.
In an email response to the River Valley Sun’s questions on the issue, he said, “student transportation eligibility is determined based on legislation that defines maximum walking distances from a student’s residence to a designated loading point. Under Section 4.2 of New Brunswick Regulation 2001-51 (Education Act), the provincial standard is 1.5 kilometres. Within Anglophone West, we use a reduced distance of 1.0 km as our standard, to support student safety and accessibility.”
He explained that the regulation also provides the Superintendent with discretion to consider exceptions in cases where unique circumstances apply. MacIntosh noted that, due to privacy reasons, he was unable to comment specifically on the Brewster situation.
Unfortunately, Brewster is currently left without any answers or solutions. Brewster said that for now, she has been driving her young daughters to and from school or the bus stop, but she expressed her frustration with this. “We pay enough for taxes; there’s no reason the bus can’t come up here. There’s even a turning spot for the bus right at the airport.”
