Calgary parents charter bus after CBE cuts to some alternative programs

Some parents in northeast Calgary are taking their children's school commute into their own hands after the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) announced it was cutting bus service to some alternative programs.

The parents got together to pay for their own school bus.

• Bus route changes leave kids in alternative programs stranded
• CBE board chair defends school bus changes, says 'sometimes choice costs'

Aman Sood says buying into a parent-run school bus was the only way to get his 11-year-old daughterto school.

"We didn't really have any other choice," Sood told CBC News on Friday.

"The only choice we had was take the kid out of the school, or arrange some kind of transportation."

The CBE cut bus services to a number of programs and Sir Wilfrid Laurier School was one of them.

Some parents say public transit isn't safe for 10- and 11-year-olds, so agroup of them have worked out a system to charter their own bus through Southland Transportation Ltd.

Currently, it will include 66 students at about $1,200 per child.

Amory Hamilton-Henry is one of the organizers of the initiative. She said they formulated the idea late last month.

"We got a proposal from Southland and we started working with that," she said.

"Transporting our kids, getting quality education, paying for that, is critical because that's what parents do."

Hamilton-Henry says they have sent a letter to the CBE asking for a teacher to help students get on the bus in the afternoon but they haven't yet received a response.

The board has defendedthe cuts saying tough choices were required and the cityhas indicated a willingness to look at route adjustments.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshisaid this week the city is monitoring demand for public transit "very closely" to see what effect these changes may have.

More consultations with parents are planned later this month.

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