They pulled all 320-something school buses off the roads in our province - a sudden move yesterday that has taken parents all across the island by suprise. They pulled half (or so) of them earlier in the day and many public school kids were quite late getting home, having to take other buses, be doubled up, etc. I've heard from some angry parents as well that some kids whose buses weren't available were just let go, walking home along highways and such, others whose kids ended up on buses they'd never ridden and were dropped off in the wrong place.
Why? "Structural deficiencies" is what they're saying - apparently, the buses are corroded and full of rust.
According to the news, the schools will remain open but students have to find another way to get to school. Doesn't sound like that big of a deal until you consider this:
"Ninety per cent of the province's 21,000 students are eligible for busing."
Most of the island is rural - we're not talking students who walk a block to school...we're talking some students with a 30-40 min bus ride. Mix that up now with a parent who needs to be at work 45 min in *this* direction and a child who needs to be at school 45 min in *that* direction and you have some problems.
It's not a problem for us - we live fairly close to Christopher's school. I'll be driving him (with his disability, he's a very slow walker; we'd have to leave too early) and possibly a couple of neighbourhood kids, easy. Cindy doesn't have a bus issue - and she said yesterday that she was quite glad of that *grin*.
Obviously they did what they did because it's a safety issue - but boy has it ever created a mess. I wonder what percentage of kids will actually be in school today?
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