These newcomer kids are struggling to walk to their school but the district won't give them a bus

A group of elementary students and their parents in St. John's who say they're struggling to make the daily trek to school are asking the provincial government to include them in a school bus route.

The students of St. Andrew's Elementary School in central St. John's are largely newcomers to Canada, and live in an apartment complex 1.5 kilometres from their school. Provincial rules require students to live 1.6 kilometres to qualify for free transportation by school bus.

"A lot of them [don't] drive, they don't have the means to drive," said school councillor Monjur Hasan. Many parents also work shifts, and have multiple young children, he added.

The walk about three kilometres round-trip along busy roads is often treacherous during winter months, he said.

"Half of the year, the sidewalk is not usable," he said.

At least 29 students that Hasan knows of are currently making this walk, and some of them are missing out on class when parents can't accompany their kids due to work, weather or illness, he says.

Anne Lambert, another school councillor, said she's contacted the Newfoundland and Labrador English School District and her MHA several times about the transportation challenge. She said she was told the school board was looking into the issue, but when she called a bus company she was told nobody from the district had been in touch.

"We're not getting anywhere with them," Lambert said.

"The school board is putting barriers up so these children can't access their right to education. And we believe it is definitely impacting their human rights, and if this was any other part of town, and any other group of people, they would have a bus to get to school."

Many of the families who live in the apartment complex aren't permanent residents, and fear their immigration status will be revoked if they speak up, Hasan said.

"They are very, very afraid to come forward," he said.

The school district says the concerns raised aren't unique to St. Andrew's, and are similar to other situations in the city and the province.

"In light of the concerns raised by the school council members, staff did take a further review to see if there was possibly room to accommodate these students within the services already provided," it said in a statement.

"The district has confirmed that St. Andrew's Elementary is serviced by the appropriate number of buses in order to accommodate all eligible students."

The school board declined an interview on the matter.

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