'Courtesy stop' exemptions coming for some N.L. school buses

Four months after telling parents it was cracking down, the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District has made new exemptions to the province's controversial 1.6-km busing rule.

Buses at about two dozen schools in the province will be allowed to make one "courtesy stop" inside the 1.6-km zone, the district told parents on Wednesday.

The change is being brought in on a trial basis, according to Cheryl Gullage, a spokesperson for the school district. Each bus route at the affected schools will be eligible for one courtesy stop.

"Only for areas where that practice was in place last year, and only for areas which received the May 2018 memo that announced the enforcement of the provincial policy," she said in an email.

• School district cracking down on distance rule for busing

The NLESD says the "family responsibility zone" rule — which usually excludes children who live too close to school from getting the bus — is a provincial government policy.

The district told parents in May that it would be enforcing that policy more strictly, but that prompted protests from parents.

• Busing policy puts children at risk, parents claim

According to Gullage, the new trial is a result of discussions between the district and the province's education department.

"We have advised affected school communities that if this trial proves unmanageable, generates safety concerns, or interferes with the efficiency of operations in any way, the provision of a courtesy stop in these areas will be revisited," she wrote.

Back to school protests

Parents in Centreville organized another protest against the 1.6-km rule on Wednesday, blocking one bus from starting its route in the morning.

More than two dozen students and parents formed a mini-blockade.

Organizer Greg Cutler said he wants multiple stops inside the exclusion zone for students.

"The bus just picked up so many kids this morning, the one bus that did get out, and came back with 20 kids," he said. "So more than half the bus was empty — so there's no reason why they can't pick up the rest of the kids as they always did."

He said Centreville shouldn't be treated the same as bigger towns with more infrastructure.

"The road conditions aren't very good. There's no sidewalks here, there's no crosswalks for kids, no crossing guards. There's a lot of wildlife in the area," he said. "Drug paraphernalia has been found on the sides of the roads. It's not a good place for the kids to be walking to school."