GUELPH/WELLINGTON – The daily routine of Wellington County parents of children taking the International Baccalaureate (IB) program at GCVI includes a drive, either by them or through an arranged carpool as no bus is offered for these students.
A group of Wellington County parents want to change that and they will be going to an upcoming board meeting with a petition and a survey to plead their case.
The IB program, as described on the UGDSB website, is a program that aims to cultivate students to have the mindset, determination and will to create a better world.
Students need to apply with teacher recommendations, their Grade 7 final report card, extracurricular and volunteer involvement and a virtual math problem-solving assessment in order to be considered.
Elora resident Lianne Carter’s daughter was one of those accepted and is currently in Grade 9.
“We made the choice as a family that we’re going to make the sacrifices required and we have the flexibility within our jobs to commit to driving her for the next four years,” Carter said.
But not everyone has this option. Carter said she’s aware of some families who have ultimately had to decline the offer because they couldn’t work out a way to get their children to and from Guelph.
She said it doesn’t seem fair that this program is marketed towards students at Wellington County elementary schools — she noted she personally hadn’t heard about it until her daughter shared her interest after a presentation at Elora Public School — meanwhile there is no bus option available.
“It should be equitable, it should be that anyone who applies and gets in should have the opportunity to go,” Carter said.
Heather Loney, UGDSB spokesperson, explained in an email when IB was introduced it came with significant costs to the district.
“When it was decided to implement IB, it was decided not to provide transportation outside of the GCVI catchment area, as that was not financially feasible,” Loney said. “There is no requirement for the board to provide transportation for voluntary programs.”
She said the board is not currently reviewing transportation guidelines related to the IB program.
It’s not just families in Elora and Fergus who are running into this problem, but also those in Erin, Hillsburgh and Rockwood.
Matt Jenkins from Erin has twin eighth graders who have been accepted into the program. He acknowledged he was aware ahead of time there was no bus but was surprised many IB students there were in Wellington County.
“So it turned out there were already 41 students from Erin, Hillsburgh and Rockwood area that were in the program and carpooling or getting themselves there,” Jenkins said.
He said he thinks part of the issue is it is a newer program that has grown over time and the number of students from Wellington County taking IB didn’t justify it previously.
Loney said this year, 82 out of roughly 425 students attending the IB program live outside of Guelph. Most of these students are in Fergus, Elora, Erin and Rockwood but there are a few students in other parts of Wellington and Dufferin counties.
She said while the program is seeing some growth, enrolment in the program fluctuates from year-to-year.
Carter and Jenkins said there is precedent for the UGDSB providing transportation in Wellington County for specialty programs in Guelph.
Carter said she sees a bus taking children to Waverly Drive Public School’s gifted program pass by her house each day.
Loney confirmed some programs historically have had transportation but referred back to the previous comment about it not being financially feasible.
“GCVI’s IB coordinator works with families to inform them of transportation alternatives, including connecting them with other families who may be interested in carpooling and providing information on public transportation options for Guelph, Fergus/Elora and Rockwood/Erin areas,” Loney said.
Carter, Jenkins and another parent will be delegating at a board meeting in February to state their case.
Both said they’re not looking to be unreasonable with their request but want to work out something whether that be centralized pick-up points or working things out on existing bus lines.
“Our ask is that they just recognize that specialty programs should all have equal access to transportation,” Jenkins said.
