Parents rally to keep the Queensborough school bus funded

Parents and other community members were rallying outside the New Westminster Secondary School on Wednesday for the continuation of the Queensborough school bus program.

The protesters call on the provincial government to keep funding the bus, which is set to end in June this year.

Over 230 students currently use the bus, and parents say that the service plays a crucial part in their education.

“I don’t have to worry about exchanging buses and being late,” said Leon Mackie, a protesting parent.

“For their mental health, the programs that they’re in allow my children to excel in school.”

The service was established in 2024, addressing long-standing safety concerns over the strenuous commute to the secondary school, specifically for Queensborough students.

Don Doyle, the chair of the Parent Advisory Council for Queensborough, says that the lack of communication from the province has been disheartening.

“Parents in Queensborough did a petition, 1,000 signatures, sent it to the house [Legislative Assembly] through our MLA,” he told 1130 NewsRadio.

“But they refused to let us know. We don’t even know where the petition is sitting.”

Doyle’s colleague in New Westminster, Laura Kwong, agrees and says that the community feels ghosted by the province.

“We have written so many letters, we have called on our elected officials, we have invited MLAs to our meetings to speak to the parents about how they have made these promises to them and how they are going to deliver on these promises. And we have heard nothing without a new commitment,” she said.

“The ask is a response at this point in time, having heard nothing this last year about whether the promise for a permanent free bus service is going to continue.”

She adds that most of the community’s advocacy has been directed to the Minister of Education.

Many students are not happy about potentially having to take public transit to school, which would add additional stress to their schedule.

“Thinking about taking transit, I really started to stress that we might not have these school buses to take us, we might have to take two buses every single day,” said 10th grader Rebecca.

In a written statement, the Ministry of Education and Child Care says that it is cooperating with partners on a solution.

It says that the provincial Ministry of Infrastructure provides funding to public school districts to purchase buses, and that school districts decide to provide school transportation options for students.

“The Ministry of Education and Child Care’s role is to provide operational funding, guidance and support to empower school districts to meet their local needs,” the ministry said.

“School districts and their elected boards decide how best to allocate this funding to meet the needs of students and early learners across the school district.”

With files from Raynaldo Suarez.