Dear Editor,
I’m writing a letter to the editor to voice my concerns about the school bus systems staying separate. I have lived in Bonnyville from high school on, and my husband has lived here his entire life. We have decided to stay, so our children can also grow up here. Our oldest has just started Kindergarten this year, and is loving it - except for how long he is on the bus for.
He wakes up at the same time as my husband who has to start work at 7 a.m. He also, sometimes, doesn’t get home until after my husband gets home from work, close to 5 p.m. We have had to ask his teacher not to send home the at-home worksheets. He is unable to sign up for extra-curricular activities, and we are often turning down weekday family meals. Some nights he barely has time to finish supper at home before he has to get ready for bed. If he is not asleep by 7 p.m., he has a hard time waking up at 6 a.m. the next day.
It was very disheartening to read in the Feb. 5 article “Combining school bus systems not as easy as it looks” that “there’s no financial incentive” to combine the busing systems. I have to lose out time with my young child because the school board will see less dollar signs? There are three separate buses that drive past my house at 7 a.m., after my child has already been picked up, and they will lose money to combine and send one bus this way? Up until about seven years ago, the busing was combined and school buses were full. I understand that there has to be the first on the bus and the last off, but it’s not fair that the bus driver sees my child longer in a day than I do because of funding costs.
I know many people who are unhappy with the current busing system. In a world that is supposed to be planning for future generations, how can sending three buses the same direction the most economical, or environmental, decision?
Leila Brosseau
MD of Bonnyville resident
