Next Meeting:
Monday, November 16 | 6:30 – 8:30 PM | 1709 8th Ave NE | Mayland Heights
CAPSC executive thanks the representatives from provincial and municipal government who joined us as we walked 1.8 kilometres from the McDougall Centre to the CBE’s Education Building. We asked those who can impact these decisions to see for themselves what this distance means, and to show empathy and commitment in addressing key parental concerns. Although we did not expect parents to attend, we were pleased to have a few children and their families help set the pace. A media team also followed two small students on their morning walk to the school bus stop.
- Global News – Parents pushing for Calgary school bus changes ask CBE to Walk A Kilometre In My Shoes
- CBC – CAPSC organizes walk to highlight distance
- Calgary parents can still access our petition and stakeholder form or send a brief email to [email protected].
Trustees, led by CBE Board of Trustee Chair Joy Bowen-Eyre, met the stakeholders at the Board of Education building and accepted a copy of the ongoing parent petition requesting restoration of safe and reliable transportation for students. During the board meeting, trustees and Chief Superintendent David Stevenson discussed devoting additional funds to improving communication with parents. In a public comment to the CBE Board of Trustees, CAPSC executive member Jillian Millar Drysdale spoke about CAPSC’s previous efforts, and requested that management make better use of communication forums already in place.
CAPSC has a history of working to improve traffic safety for children. In 2013, we co-hosted a stakeholder meeting with provincial, municipal, police, school board and parent representatives to discuss existing issues, and organized a city-wide School Traffic Safety Week. We continue to offer traffic safety tools for parents and school councils, which supplements work other organizations do to increase awareness.
We hear from parents that restricting school bus travel distances to 1.6 – 1.8 km has resolved some problems. However, we continue to receive emails from others who want communication and action on this issue. For more history, see CAPSC’s Report to the Minister of Education.