Bus route changes have some Calgary parents considering pulling their kids out of French immersion

The Calgary Board of Education is continuing to make changes to bus routes, with eight schools seeing further changes this month alone, and some parents are not happy.

Kids attending Chinook Park School are among those impacted.

The school's A and B bus routes are combining, meaning ride times have increased up to an hour each day for some kids.

Danielle Zezulka's eight-year-old son attends Chinook Park's French immersion program, but fears he'll have to drop out of the program if bussing issues aren't resolved.

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"We really do depend on the bus to get him to school. If it can't get sorted out then we're within walking distance of Louis Riel and, unfortunately, they don't have a French Immersion program but that is our designated school," Zezulka said.

"So if we can't get the bussing figured out, the transportation figured out, he'd have to go to Louis Riel because it's more feasible."

Calgary Board of Education trustee Julie Hrdlicka told CBC News the change was made because of the board's finances and it won't be reversed. But she said it is useful for families to reach out with their feedback because it helps guide further changes.

"At this point, this is a decision based on our financial situation but we do very much appreciate the voice of parents," Hrdlicka said.

"It's definitely given us some important information as we move forward."

'Our children are facing like hour-long commutes'

Jill Roberts was among the Oakridge parents dropping their kids off at the bus stop around 7:30 a.m. on Monday. But on Tuesday, they'll have to be there half an hour earlier because the route is being combined with another.

Roberts says the increasing difficulty in getting to school is discouraging attendance in the Chinook Park French immersion program.

"Our children are facing like hour-long commutes, and a lot of parents just can't make it work, so they're looking at options like pulling their kids out of the school, carpooling, all kinds of things to make this work," Roberts told CBC News.

The CBE says this route was changed because ridership is down, showing a combined 57 students use both routes.

But Roberts says ridership is only declining because of the congregated stops.

Samantha Purslow's son stopped using the bus after that change last fall.

"It was very, very stressful to think about, 'How am I going to get my kid to school?'" Purslow said.

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