Parents feel held hostage and fear for the safety of their children since their school service center withdrew their transport service.
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“It’s a hostage situation, we have no alternative. My daughter now has to get up at 5:45 a.m., take a bus at 6:37 a.m. to start classes at 8 a.m.,” says Charfeddine Mejri, waiting for his 9-year-old daughter’s school bus.
Photo Clara Loiseau
For the past five years, her child has always had the right to school transportation to get to Wilfrid-Pelletier school in east Montreal, where she is in an international class. But this year, she is one of hundreds of students who have lost that right.
“A recurring deficit forced the Pointe-de-l’Île School Services Centre (CSSPI) to modify its eligibility criteria for school transportation. For 2022-2023 only, the estimated deficit was $1,600,000,” Mr.e Valérie Biron, director of communications at CSSPI.
Child Safety
Until last year, a school bus would pick up many children from in front of their homes.
“Now, they have to walk 1.7 km in the morning and 1.7 km in the evening to catch a bus at a drop-off point that will take them to school,” laments Yassine Bahri, who lives in Rivière-des-Prairies and whose two children, aged 7 and 10, are enrolled at Pierre-de-Coubertin school, a special-purpose school located in Montreal North.
“We can’t let them walk alone and cross places that aren’t even safe for adults,” he explains.
For Karine Gagné, whose two daughters, aged 7 and 9, attend Albatros primary school, these changes are a huge Source of anxiety.
“In the evening, I can’t pick them up from school, so they have to cross a boulevard by themselves that doesn’t have a crossing guard and where lots of people run red lights,” she says.
Decision that makes no sense
Some parents are also faced with a real headache when one of their children is entitled to school transport, while the other is not.
Marie-Claude Imbeault’s children both attend François-La Bernarde primary school, but only her 5-year-old daughter is now allowed to ride the school bus.
“I would have to take my son to school by car, at the same time as my daughter takes the bus. And I can’t take my daughter with my car, because I can’t park to take her inside the school,” M.me Imbeault.
The CSSPI indicates that it is “aware that the modifications to [l’offre] of services cause changes in habits for [les] students and their families”.
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