Keep the buses rolling, MPP Arnott tells Minister of Education

Hundreds of Georgetown students are bracing for unacceptably long walks to school, unless the Minister of Education steps in with a solution.

Local school boards, said Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott, are not receiving the assurances they need from the Minister that they would receive the funds necessary to continue the bus service from Georgetown South to their schools.

In a statement today in the Ontario Legislature, Mr. Arnott took the Minister to task.

“Mr. Speaker, the Minister of Education is demonstrating indifference to the repeated expressions of concern from hundreds of my constituents in the Town of Halton Hills.

“On March 25th, I received a letter from the chair of the Halton Catholic District School Board, asking me to approach the Minister to seek clarification on a school transportation funding issue.

“The very next day, I spoke to the Minister and told her that the school board needed reassurance that their bus funding would not be cut if they continued to bus students from Georgetown South to Christ the King high school. I continued to follow up with her over the following days.

“But because the Minister refused to respond in a timely way, the board felt compelled to eliminate this bus route for hundreds of students—all in an effort conform to heavy-handed ministry guidelines. If the Minister could still give the board its requested funding assurances, I would hope it could reconsider its decision to cancel the buses.

“On Saturday I attended an event at Gardiner Public School in Georgetown. Julie Rossall, a parent of two students at Georgetown District High School, approached me to say that she had little choice but to sell her house in Georgetown South, and move closer to her children’s school because of the Halton Public Board’s pending bus service cancellation.

“That is the hardship that parents are experiencing, and I’ve received countless messages of concern. There is no public transit alternative for Georgetown students.

“Let’s be clear. The bussing problem in Georgetown South originated in the Mowat Block, in the Minister’s office.

“The Mayor of Halton Hills is asking to meet the Minister to discuss this matter. I urge her to do so, at her earliest convenience. She has the power to solve this problem and, in the interests of our students, she should exercise that power.”

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