The Ministry of Education says it has given Northern school boards more money for busing students, but its public response to a letter from one area board didn’t address specific concerns about recent increases in student absenteeism and exposure to extreme cold.
“Schools in Northern Ontario are receiving, on average, a three- to four-per cent increase in funding (for busing), and Lakehead District School Board is receiving over $7.91 million,” a ministry spokeswoman said on Tuesday.
Though it noted the amounts have been increased, the spokeswoman said the ministry is keeping an open mind.
“We recognize the unique needs of Northern Ontario, taking into account that more students who attend these schools live further (away from their schools) and travel longer distances,” she said.
“We will continue to work with the (Lakehead) school board and sector to review and update the funding framework under the Student Transportation Fund on an annual basis to ensure it is transparent and focused on reliability.”
In mid-December, Lakehead District School Board chair Leah Vanderwey wrote to Education Minister Jill Dunlop about the fallout from a revised busing funding formula that has resulted in a spike in the number of “vulnerable” students not able to come to school.
“Specifically,” Vanderwey wrote, “at the end of September, 38 per cent of students who were eligible for transportation last year, but not this year, had lower attendance compared to the same period last year.”
“By the end of November,” Vanderwey added, “this increased to 49 per cent of students who were eligible for transportation last year but not this year.”
Vanderwey, who is from Oliver Paipoonge, urged the ministry to “conduct a regional review of transportation policies with input from northern and rural boards.”
Under a new policy that took effect last fall, kindergarten students within a Thunder Bay-area busing consortium must live at least 800 metres from their school to be eligible to ride a school bus. The previous cut-off was only 400 metres.
For grades 9-12, the eligibility cut-off was increased to 3.2 kilometres from 1.6 km.
When parents were told to prepare for the changes, some residents were concerned about safety on rural routes. One Mountain Road-area resident said if students aren’t eligible to be bused, there needs to be sidewalks.
In her letter to Dunlop, Vanderwey noted that Northern students often face temperatures colder than -15 C.
“We know that many of our students from vulnerable families do not have the appropriate winter gear to be outside for extended periods, further increasing their risk,” Vanderwey said.
“In regions like Thunder Bay, where severe cold is a regular occurrence, and community infrastructure is less developed than in larger cities, the lack of transportation services disproportionately impacts families,” Vanderwey said.
Dunlop, who became education minister last year, is a southern Ontario MPP.
Last summer, in the lead-up to the bus funding formula changes, the ministry said “while the government provides student transportation funding to school boards, each board is responsible for making operational decisions on busing at a local level.”
