Editor, The News:
Re: ‘School cuts going too deep’ (The News, April 18).
While the school district may no longer have a legal obligation (thanks to the Ministry of Education turning transportation over to local boards) to provide free school bussing for some students, it certainly has a moral obligation for a large number of students living in the Albion area.
I can sit on my back deck and see Albion elementary school, yet my grandchildren, who live at this same address, have to travel more than eight kilometres on narrow, rural roads to attend Whonnock elementary.
Students in the subdivision adjacent to us attend Webster’s Corners elementary.
All of this is because the school district has been unable to convince the provincial government that we desperately require another elementary school here in Albion.
As long as this situation remains, the district has a moral obligation to provide free bussing for these students.
I would love to have my grandchildren be able to walk to school, but that is not possible.
To charge these kids to ride a school bus is the same as charging a fee, and we know from recent news that that is not permitted.
The school district must stop trying to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic. Simply tell Victoria you are unable to do your job with the monies provided.
Ian Strachan
Maple Ridge