No bussing for Yellowknife junior kindergarten students next year

Yellowknife junior kindergarten students won't be riding the bus in September.

All three school districts in the city Yellowknife Education District No.1, Commission scolaire francophone, and Yellowknife Catholic Schools say they are not able to offer bussing to the youngsters next year.

In a letter to parents, the school districts said worries over the safety and extra needs of younger students as young as 3 or 4 years old contributed to the decision.

The school boards have been communicating with the territorial department of Education, Culture and Employment, and meeting with the minister about bussing, but the chairperson of the YK1 school board says the department hasn't been quick enough in responding to their concerns.

"We needed to make a decision now in order for the contractor to put the extra buses in place, to hire additional adult monitors, to put restraints on in time to be ready for the fall," said John Stephenson, chairperson of the YK1 school district. "So trustees in three school boards decided and agreed that we were not ready."

Stephenson says the extra cost was also a major concern for the school districts. He says it could create a shortfall of as much as $571,000 per year if the schools were to extend regular bus services to the younger students, or $290,000 for specialty buses.

Yesterday, the South Slave Divisional Education Council also announced it wouldn't cover bussing, due to similar concerns.

• N.W.T.'s South Slave schools not ready for junior kindergarten, warns school board

Yellowknife's school districts are working on a plan to offer bussing to junior kindergarten in September 2018. But Stephenson says in the meantime, they will work with parents who need help getting their kids to school.

"We don't want any child left standing on the curb," he says.

In an email, Education, Culture and Employment spokesperson Jacqueline Mackinnonsaid that the territorial government provides 75 per cent of funding for the Yellowknife school boards, including core funding for transportation, and has committed to funding seatbelts and booster seats for younger students in addition to that.

"Ultimately, it is a board's decision to offer bussing for students," the email read. "The tree Yellowknife boards have access to funds from sources other than the GNWT... and boards have considerable discretion to manage their funds and set priorities."

Mackinnon said that the department will begin a review of the student transportation aspect of the territory's funding model to school boards, beginning in September of 2017.