Local school boards request deferral on budget item that would eliminate school bus extras

School boards asking Windsor council to defer a budget item that seeks to eliminate a Transit Windsor service known as 'school extras.'

The directors of education at both the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board (WECDSB) and the Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) are asking Windsor city council to defer a budget item that seeks to eliminate a Transit Windsor service known as “school extras”.

The extra buses provide service to students at Vincent Massey and Riverside Secondary Schools and Holy Names and St. Joseph’s Catholic High Schools.

The extras were designed to take pressure off regular routes during the school year, but the budget report calls it a “concierge-level of service for a small number of secondary school students.”

GECDSB Director Vicki Houston says she and her counterpart at the WECDSB were not consulted by the city and found out about the potential cuts through the media.

“I think it’s critical that’s it’s deferred so that there’s time for actual consultation, so that collectively we can come to a solution that better meets the need of our students than what’s currently being proposed,” said Houston.

She added, the cuts would have significant impact to students, “Those buses are full, they hold up to 70 students per bus and they are all completely jam packed at the end of every single school day and on the way to school in the morning, so a substantial number of students. Particularly for those that there is no current bus route available to them, and those where even in the enhanced recommendation for Transit Windsor, there still would be no buses.”

WECDSB Director of Education Emelda Byrne said the board understands the city has budgetary pressures and would like to be part of the solution.

“So, if we could consider being involved in that consultation with a deferred recommendation to put a pause, defer it, so that the two boards can come together and talk about possible solutions to benefit students and to help reduce their budget,” said Byrne.

The budget proposes using the nine eliminated buses used for the school extras to provide necessary service improvements and expansion along other routes, including the Dougall 6, South Windsor 7, Walkersville 8, Parent 14, and Route 115.

Byrne questioned where the enhancements would be and when.

“So, are they a year away, or are they two years away from that east end enhancement? So, if they are truly a year or two away, then why can’t they keep what’s working in place from student safety, from a budget piece, waiting to see that they actually have a plan that could actually work and be affective, and making sure that the enhancement includes that 14 to 17-year-old perspective. They are citizens of Windsor too,” said Byrne.

The school boards estimate around 650 students rely on the buses every school day.

Council will discuss the proposed budget during a special meeting on Jan. 27.

— Dustin Coffman, Rob Hindi, Rusty Thomson/AM800 News