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City of Powell River to provide bus passes for Cranberry students

Students behind Cranberry Lake must currently find their own way to school
Powell River school bus
PROVIDING PASSES: City of Powell River Council will assist students living on the back side of Cranberry Lake by allocating semester bus passes to allow them to board city buses to get to school. Peak archive photo

City of Powell River Council has approved the issuance of 25 city bus semester passes to students living on the far side of Cranberry Lake. The matter will be done in consultation with School District 47.

At the council meeting on Thursday, January 16, councillor CaroleAnn Leishman said she found out from a parent of a student living on the back side of Cranberry Lake that Powell River is the only community he could find that measures the distance from the home to the school as the crow flies. There is a lake in the way of the schools, she added.

Leishman said if one did the calculation most school districts use for qualifying for riding on school buses, they calculate the distance by road.

She said, for example, that in Cowichan, the walking distance is 3.5 kilometres and if it is greater than that students qualify for the bus. In Comox it is four kilometres and Campbell River it’s 4.8 kilometres.

“We do 3.2 kilometres as the crow flies, so the school bus does not go behind Cranberry Lake; they are left out in the cold,” said Leishman. “Some of them [the students] have probably already purchased a semester pass but many of them have seen that this is an issue and are hoping that council will once again be generous and do an in-kind contribution of semester passes for these students.”

Leishman added that she thinks Powell River Youth Council is going to approach the school board about revisiting the “as the crow flies” rule for busing. Leishman said the rule is illogical.

“Let’s get people around as effectively as possible and this is just one step in trying to assist students who would otherwise have to pay $105 per semester,” she added. “We did it last year.”

Councillor Maggie Hathaway suggested writing a letter to the school board indicating the city is covering the cost and thinks it is the school district’s jurisdiction. Having that backed up by the youth council would be even better, she added.

Hathaway asked if staff could be directed to send a letter to the school board.

Mayor Dave Formosa said it could be coordinated with the youth council.

Councillor George Doubt said he was suggesting that rather than just cooperation from the school district, he thinks the city should ask the school district to revisit its policy or provide financial assistance to purchase these bus passes.

Councillor Jim Palm said there were only two weeks until the start of the second semester, when those bus passes will be necessary, so if the school district can be approached sooner than later, that would be a good step forward.

Palm said he wanted to credit Leishman and the youth council for bringing this matter forward.

“Early in September I had phone calls from parents in this regard,” said Palm. “It’s a crying shame it’s happening and it needs to be addressed sooner rather than later.”

He said he has received inquiries from students about whether it has been changed and his response has been that it’s in progress.