GORE BAY—A Gore Bay resident says he received good news from the chair of the Sudbury Student Services Consortium (SSSC) last week, as his nine-year-old daughter is now able to able to get on a school bus to be transported to and from Charles C. McLean Public School, as his younger child is already able to do. And, while his daughter is able to use the school bus to and from school every day from now on, the executive director of the SSSC said she is looking at a pilot project on this issue, for all of Manitoulin Island.
“I have received an email from the chairperson of the consortium board, and it’s good news for us,” stated Ian Oliver, on Friday of last week. “Eve (his daughter) is allowed back on the school bus,” he confirmed.
Mr. Oliver told the Recorder he had received an email from Allan Gelinas, chair of the consortium board, which explained, “this letter will serve to inform you that the appeal brought forward to the board of directors in which you requested school bus transportation for your daughter Eve to Charles C. McLean Public School has been temporarily approved due to a new pilot study that will be rolled out in your area.”
Renee Boucher, executive director of the SSSC, told the Recorder on Monday “we are going to be putting together a pilot project on Manitoulin Island, but I haven’t looked at all the procedures and forms; we still have to work out the whole process. But we are going to try the pilot project on the Island.”
Ms. Boucher explained, “there are some areas (on the Island) where seats are available on school buses that are not being filled, and what we are looking at is possibly allowing parents to request that a student be able to sit in the empty seat on the bus.”
“We are in the very early stage of this whole process,” cautioned Ms. Boucher, who noted, “it was decided since the (school boards represented on the SSSC, which includes the Rainbow board) agreed to look at this pilot project that we would provide busing for Mr. Oliver’s child for the rest of this year.”
“The pilot project will be in place by next September,” said Ms. Boucher, “and we will be sending information to all the schools and parents. I know in other areas of the province consortiums provide courtesy seats on their buses, and at the hearing I raised the issue of trying out a pilot project on the Island. I had looked at a study done in the province and heard some other locations are offering this. At the appeal the board representatives asked me to do more study and provide more information on a possible pilot project.”
“For now, the courtesy seat will be available for Mr. Oliver’s daughter; we are not doing a complete overhaul of the system (Island-wide) at this point,” stressed Ms. Boucher. “Exactly, we need to develop the process, policy and forms and have this accepted, but since we are looking at it anyway the board decided to allow for Mr. Oliver’s daughter to use the bus this school year.”
As has been reported previously, Mr. Oliver had indicated he would not give up his fight to get the Sudbury Student Services Consortium (SSSC) to change its policy concerning not bussing students in Grade 4 and over to school, who live within 1.6 kilometres of school.
“We’ve already had Eve on the school bus, both to and from school,” Mr. Oliver told the Recorder late last week. “It is a matter of her and other students who are nine-years-old and younger safety,” he added.
