INUVIK
School bus service is an issue that just won't die for Inuvik parents.

Julie Thrasher was one of the people asking for school buses to be brought back in service, during a public meeting Nov. 20 at East Three Elementary School. - Shawn Giilck/NNSL photo

At a public meeting sponsored by the Beaufort Delta Education Council Nov. 21 at East Three school, a discussion about the need for school buses was one of the main issues that clearly raised the passion of the audience members.

Julie Thrasher and Melissa Kisoun both insisted a bus service was one of the most crucial concerns of parents in Inuvik.

Kisoun said she recalled riding the school bus when she was a student.

"When I was in school the bus service and the attendance at school was unreal," she said.

"I'm a single mother and I've spent thousands of dollars on taxis for my kids to get to school from way up on Alder Drive. Just this year we've got a vehicle."

That's a distance of approximately 1.3 kilometres.

Kisoun suggested if bus service wasn't in the offing, then the school should offer a "free lunch program."

"Where's our bus system?" Thrasher asked as she stood to ask questions of the education council representatives.

Denise Kurszewski, superintendent of the Beaufort Delta Education Council, said "we can look at the busing issue again."

Judy Harder, the head of the Inuvik District Education Authority (IDEA), said the organization had looked at busing several times over the last few years and found it isn't economically feasible.

"We receive $72,000 a year for busing, and that's based on the school population, which has been dropping," Harder said.

"We went to tender once on a bus service, and didn't receive a bid. The second time we received a bid of more than $200,000, which is so far out of the realm of possibility. If we went to a bus system, the money would have to come from somewhere else."

Instead of spending the money on busing, the IDEA has used the $72,000 for staffing purposes and to help run the East Three Cafe at the secondary school, which provide lunches to students and their parents, although it's not free.

That didn't sit well with Thrasher, who suggested the funds could be used for improving aboriginal cultural programming in the schools.

"I don't agree with that at all," Thrasher said.

Harder also said the IDEA would "like to start a lunch program for the elementary school, but there's no funding."

Cultural programming was another hot issue among the audience, with some saying the council should increase its offerings to better reflect the composition of the schools, which is overwhelmingly aboriginal.

Kurszewski said the council continues to look at its curriculum and the possibilities of adding more cultural content.

The meeting was the first in a series that will be held around the Beaufort Delta Education Council communities.

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