The Cowichan Valley school district is reviewing a busing problem brought to light by a Youbou family.
Nikki Robinson said she is very concerned about her 10-year-old daughter’s bus stop.
“We live [on the Youbou Highway] about two blocks before Meade Creek Road so we’re at the 80 km/hr zone. They expect her to cross the highway, and walk those two blocks against the 80 km/hr traffic and get to her bus stop. There’s no crosswalk and no sidewalk.
“The only solution they were able to give me was that we should be walking her, which doesn’t just put her in danger, it puts our whole family in danger,” Robinson said.
Asked if she had considered getting her daughter picked up on their side of the highway as the bus makes its way into Youbou and then ride through Youbou and back out with the other children, Robinson said the family had suggested that idea.
“We said there’s a good pull-out just before our house but she said they don’t even come up that area of Youbou Road. They go up by Meade Creek Road and they come by us only on the way back.”
“So we were back to me, my two-year-old and my 10-year-old walking along the highway with all these big trucks coming at us. It’s a fast area. We have contacted the MLA for the area [Sonia Furstenau] and hopefully she will help us out. We’re also hoping that a little bit of awareness of the situation will also help us. This is ridiculous. I don’t know what we can do. My daughter’s always taken a bus so that’s never been a problem. In our last place it came right into the neighbourhood.”
A statement issued by the Cowichan Valley school board Tuesday, Oct. 24 said, “The school district was made aware of the concern last week, through an email received from the child’s father. This email was in response to a reminder sent out from our transportation department to parents whose children still had bus passes not yet picked up. The father replied to that email expressing concern about safety of his daughter having to cross the highway to reach the bus stop. Prior to this conversation, no safety concerns regarding that stop were received by the district.
“Our transportation supervisor contacted the father via phone last week to discuss his concern, and she committed to looking into the situation and assessing whether a safe pick-up and drop-off option could be implemented for his daughter. She is going out to the site today [Tuesday] to review the area, and has already consulted with the bus driver.
Safety of students is always a priority for the school district. Any time a safety concern is raised by parents regarding bus service, the Transportation department reviews it with the goal of trying to find a safe solution.”
No other comment was available.