Two New Westminster City councillors are calling for permanent provincial funding for the Queensborough school bus program, which is set to expire by the end of the current school year.
Couns. Daniel Fontaine and Paul Minhas have tabled a motion to keep the program alive beyond June 30.
Fontaine says that the school bus program, which was launched in 2024 and is currently used by over 230 students, is a success.
He explains that without a designated school bus, students could end up sitting in transit for up to 90 minutes each way.
“The school bus funding is cut. They’re going to be back to where they were before, with some of the students taking about 90 minutes, assuming they can get access to a bus 90 minutes to and from school every day, which is just completely unacceptable,” Fontaine told 1130 NewsRadio.
Related:
According to the New Westminster Progressives Electors Coalition, the two councillors have also travelled to the province’s capital this week to remind MLAs of the petition submitted by affected parents and students.
“There has been a petition of over 1,000 signatures submitted to the legislature. There has been very active both student and parent advocacy on this,” Fontaine said.
The Parent Advisory Council says that they did not receive a response to the petition and feel “ghosted” by the province.
“We have seen a community where the students have spoken out about the level of anxiety they have about the school year next year and how this uncertainty around whether or not this school bus will continue is something that needs to be resolved sooner rather than later,” Fontaine added.
His motion seeks New West council to formally ask the provincial government for funding and urge the Education and Transportation Ministers and local MLAs to provide clarity on the program.
Also read:
“I am certainly hopeful that Minister Whiteside and MLA Raj Chouhan reverse their decision to cut the funding and actually keep the school bus running this September effectively.”
Whiteside and Chouhan represent the two New West ridings.
The Notice of Motion will be discussed at the city’s council meeting on Monday at 6 p.m.
Earlier this month, concerned community members rallied outside the New Westminster Secondary School for an extension of the program.
In response to the protest, the Ministry of Education and Child Care said that it is working on a solution.