Yellowknife (May 05/06) - It's a battle over a bus.

Dettah resident David Giroux said he decided to take his eight-year-old son Wilfred Crapeau out of the Kaw Tay Whee school because of bullying and a lower quality of education than schools in Yellowknife.

"I have the freedom to choose like everybody else," he said.

Now he wants his son, who he said has special needs the Dettah school cannot meet, to be able to access the free bus the Dettah District Education Authority (DDEA) provides because he can no longer afford to drive his son to Yellowknife every day.

But Kaw Tay Whee school principal Don Finley said there is nothing wrong with the education Dettah children receive at his school.

"Children here are doing wonderfully," he said.

Giroux said he has proof Wilfred is having trouble with school and is waiting for an assessment with Stanton Hospital specialists.

A letter from Mildred Hall principal Yasemin Heyck to the DDEA states Wilfred's "language skills are very weak."

Heyck also said that he was assessed by both a professional speech language pathologist and an occupational therapist and found needing additional support Mildred Hall school could provide.

Finley said until there is proof from a psychologist, the DDEA will not provide free transportation to Yellowknife for Wilfred.

All children in Dettah usually go to Kaw Tay Whee school from kindergarten to Grade 5, after which they have access to the bus to Yellowknife.

Students can be taken out of Dettah before Grade 5, but transportation will not be covered by the DDEA unless there is proof the child has special or religious needs, said Finley. There are 81 children in Dettah, with around 50, most of whom are older than 11, going to Yellowknife schools, he said.

One parent cites convenience in choosing to send her three kids to a Yellowknife school instead of Kaw Tay Whee.

"It had nothing to do with the curriculum. It was because the family is in town every day anyway," said Kathleen, who did not wish to disclose her last name.

Giroux has gone to both Education Minister Charles Dent and his MLA Premier Joe Handley to plead his case.

Dent replied, saying the decision was in the DDEA's hands.