Student's commute takes nearly 2 hours, but school only a 10-minute drive away

A New Minas, N.S.,womanis demanding changes to school bus schedulesbecause her 14-year-old son isspending nearly two hours in transit when the family only lives a 10-minute drive from his school.

Michelle Young said her 14-year-old son gets picked up at 7:04 a.m. by the same bus that takes elementary and junior high students to their schools.

He and and other students have a stopover at a junior high, where they spend about 40 minutes waiting in the school cafeteria for a second bus to pick them up and take them to the high school.

Young's son doesn't arrive at Horton High School until about 8:45 a.m.

"This is ridiculous. An hour and 45 minutes when we live a 10-minute drive from the school. It's not right," she said Sunday."Our child, who has to ride on the bus longer than any adult in Nova Scotia would commute."

Young said she drives her son to school when she can, but that's not always possible.

Regional centre for education responds

Young said she called the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education's transportation line several times over the summer and is fed up with leaving messages. She said someone finally called back the week before school started and indicatedbusing for students in New Minas would be reviewed later this fall.

"I think it's completely inappropriate. I'm really offended by the fact that this is an issue that we've identified for at least the last eight years and all of a sudden I'm getting left a voicemail saying they're just too busy to deal with this problem because they have new students and new stops to deal with," she said.

A spokesperson for the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education said staff are aware of the problem and are working as quickly as possible to find a solution.

"We do recognize there is work to do on some bus routes such as this one," said Kristen Loyst."We recognize that a change is needed there."

Loyst said the region has a policy that bus routes should be designed to minimize travel time, which should not exceed 60 minutes, when possible. She acknowledged the travel time for students such as Young's son exceeds that limit.

Last week, Education Minister Zach Churchill said in light of annual complaints about service provided by Stock Transportation, his department is reviewing the busing system.

The company services the Halifax Regional Centre for Education, the Annapolis Valley Regional Centre for Education and the Conseil scolaire acadien provincial.

Concern about fatigue

Across Canada, school boards have mulled over and revised start times in order to give teens more opportunity to sleep. The American Academy of Pediatricsrecommends middle and high schools delay the start of class to 8:30 a.m. or later to accommodate the biological sleep rhythms of adolescents.

Young said the late start at her son's school only benefits students who live in the parts of New Minas that have later bus service. Kids who live a few streets over from her home get picked up as late as 8:30 a.m., she said.

After school, herson's commute is about 20 minutes.

"I'm concerned about fatigue. I'm concerned that as the school progresses, that's a lot of hours of commute time to then be expected to sit in school all day and then go home and do your homework and do your after school things," she said.

Young said she also doesn't know if anyone supervisesthe students while they're waiting at the junior high, or whether they have access to Wi-Fi, which would allow students to do homework.

With files from Elizabeth McMillan

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