Jason Stockfish | [email protected]
Grande Yellowhead Public School Division (GYPSD) is now piloting a school bus service to Jasper Park Lodge (JPL) for the 2022-2023 school year.
For years, families with children living outside of the townsite received funds to assist them with transporting their children to and from school.
However, after numerous calls, letters, emails and meetings with school division officials, 鈥減arents from the JPL provided many valid reasons for having a school bus model rather than the parent-provided model,鈥� explained a news release from GYPSD.
As a result of the efforts of these parents, 34 students are currently registered to ride the bus from JPL to school and back each day.
According to the news release, 鈥淥nly one month into the pilot, Board Chair Dale Karpluk has already received great feedback from families who appreciate the bus service.鈥�
鈥淭he GYPSD trustees are always interested in community engagement. We appreciate hearing from our stakeholders, and we always strive to do what is in the best interest of our students, staff and community,鈥� Karpluk said.
鈥淭he initial informal response has been positive, with feedback at a School Advisory Council meeting and an email from a parent.鈥�
One parent who spent countless hours advocating for the bus service was Amy Kassem.
While she has since moved to Ottawa with her family, Kassem was thrilled to hear that parents鈥� efforts finally paid off.
鈥淲e did it,鈥� Kassem said.
鈥淚 am so happy for the families that will benefit from this support for their children to access school (and) I am also happy that all the endless writing and phone calls were worth it.鈥�
Kassem explained why she spent so much time and effort trying to get the bus service families at JPL are now benefiting from.
鈥淲hen we first moved to Jasper five years ago, there was a period of time where I was not able to send my daughter to school as we did not have a vehicle, which was essentially a prerequisite to access school under the parent-provided agreement in place,鈥� she said.
鈥淪ince we had moved from overseas, we had no credit standing in Canada, and this was another hurdle we had to quickly overcome in order to purchase a vehicle to send our child to school.鈥�
At one point, she and her husband, Rami, had to rent a car for the purpose of school transportation until they could purchase a vehicle.
Kassem said that other families also struggled to get their children to school at times, with some resorting to paying for taxis, and even keeping their child home for the day because they just couldn鈥檛 make the situation work.
鈥淛uggling work hours and work breaks was a normal occurrence to accommodate the parent-provided transportation structure that was in place,鈥� Kassem said.
鈥淪ometimes you could find a neighbor to help, but sometimes you couldn't. Some parents were able to find carpooling solutions, but others could not (and) it was not equal access to education for all children.鈥�
Another parent who fought for the school bus service was Rachel Maskowitz.
鈥淲hen I arrived at JPL over five years ago, I was baffled that there was no school bus. It just seemed so obvious that we needed one (because) many folks didn't have cars and parents were turning down career opportunities because they couldn't fit the school commute into their schedules.鈥�
Maskowitz explained how getting the pilot project in place was not an easy feat.
鈥淲hen we would discuss getting a school bus, all doors would slam in our faces,鈥� she said.
鈥淥ne mum told me she had been asking for a bus for 15 years (and) she's amazed we did it.鈥�
Kassem was the 鈥渟queaky wheel鈥� that made sure the school division heard the parents鈥� concerns, she noted.
鈥�(Amy) was determined to see education be accessible to all children and drove that point home. She kept phoning different departments and got other parents involved,鈥� Maskowitz said.
鈥淪he did it because she wanted all children to have equal opportunity, not just children whose parents were privileged enough to have a vehicle.鈥�
Troy Mills, who also lives and works at JPL and has children who will benefit from having a school bus, explained that he is elated at the outcome.
鈥淭his is something I feel was long overdue for the school board to offer families at JPL, and because of the incredible efforts and persistence of Amy and Rachel, all of our voices were heard, and we finally got a bus for the kids,鈥� he said.
鈥淚 hope the pilot project is a success and continues for years to come.鈥�
GYPSD is piloting the school bus initiative for the current school year in an effort to compile data to determine whether the program will continue, with a decision coming in the spring.
UPDATE: After this story was published, GYPSD felt information and context from its perspective was missing, and so the district was offered an opportunity to add the following statement to the article:
鈥淎s noted, the Division has historically provided funding from Alberta Education directly to families who live at the Jasper Park Lodge (JPL) to transport their children to school in town.
鈥淎lthough the article suggests that families had been requesting a bus for over 15 years, it was only in the Spring of 2022 that the Division was formally approached by a few families who indicated that there was a desire to replace the parent-provided transportation model with a school bus route.
鈥淚n response, a survey was sent to all JPL families requesting their input on a proposed change, but few responded.
鈥淚n order to ensure that the Division was hearing from the majority of the JPL families, Nikki Gilks, Special Projects Manager, and Constantine Kastrinos, the Deputy Superintendent, met in person with family members at the JPL in July.
鈥淎t that time, feedback on the proposed change was mixed; some families indicated their preference to keep the parent-provided funding model.
鈥淭he Division also contacted the Municipality of Jasper and the management at the Jasper Park Lodge to discuss potential school transportation options for JPL families.
鈥淲hen reviewing the information and feedback from these various meetings with different stakeholders, under the direction of the Superintendent and local Jasper Trustee and Board Chair, Dale Karpluk, it was decided in August to run a one-year pilot bus route from JPL to Jasper schools beginning September to collect data.
鈥淭he Division's intention is to evaluate the sustainability of a school bus operation by taking into account the actual number of students riding the bus on a daily basis, JPL families' input and desire to continue with a parent-provided model or school bus route, and the financial considerations.鈥�
