Vernon parents push for charter buses during snowy months

A battle over buses is pitting parents against school administrators in Vernon on Wednesday.

Parents of players on the Vernon Secondary Schools football team want to charter a bus to take them over the snowy Coquihalla Highway to the Lower Mainland to play a game in Burnaby.

Sherri Black says the trip is too dangerous for a school bus.

School buses may be safe in town-long trips. But on the Coquihalla, through the summitI dont think the school bus is equipped. Not safe, not safe at all, says Black.

Its our money and we should have a say how we get there.

Vernon school district superintendent Joe Rogers says the high school must send the team on a regular school bus due to a contract agreement with the drivers union, but insists the school buses are safe.

The school bus is the safest mode of travelthe Transportation Safety Board would tell you its the safest mode of travel, Rogers told CBC News.

Rogers says parents can take their children in their own vehicles.

Sherri Black says that's an option she and other parents are considering, but they will continue to push for the right to pay for a charter bus in the future.