Mother upset SD23 not offering better busing alternatives

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An Ellison mother is frustrated after almost two months of trying to arrange rides for her two children who attend Rutland Secondary School.

Jamie Lowther tells Castanet she had to purchase city bus passes on top of the money she has already paid for her children to be bussed to school this year.

"This is because of COVID-19."

Lowther says that her children, like other Okanagan high school students, have half days every other day but unlike high schools such as Kelowna Secondary and Mount Boucherie, there are no buses provided for Rutland Secondary students at noon. "We work, I run a restaurant, am I supposed to leave work every other day at 11:45 a.m. to go get my kids?"

School District 23 Secretary-Treasurer, Ryan Stierman, tells Castanet they appreciate the challenge for parents but don't have any plans to add a noon bus for RSS at this time.

"If parents do make the choice where they do not want their students to attend in the afternoon they need to make alternative arrangements."

Stierman says SD23 did consult about the situation but, "unfortunately we do not have sufficient drivers who have availability during the noon hour to be able to offer service at all of our secondary schools."

For her part, Lowther doesn't understand why the school district can't provide a better solution. "The federal government drops all this money, why isn't it put into busing to top up what we have already paid?" 

Lowther says her children are allowed to stay at school until the end of day bus leaves, but she doesn't feel it's safe for her children to join the afternoon classes. Lowther says her children would be taking the same lesson as they had in the morning and they would be with a different group of students.

Stierman says if students do stick around for the afternoon classes, "students are not joining another cohort. We have reduced the class size numbers in the afternoon to accommodate for increased social distancing."

If that's not enough, Stierman says schools are also offering different options for students who remain at school in the afternoon but choose not to be part of the afternoon classes.

That leaves Lowther and many other families who attend RSS on their own if they want to bring their children home after school on the days classes end at noon. "Everyone is just passing the buck."

For his part, Stierman says the situation is unlikely to change as long as COVID-19 continues to be prevalent.