Innisfil family relieved school transportation for special needs child is reinstated
The family of an Innisfil boy living with special needs, whose school transportation was taken away earlier this year by the school board, says he's getting his ride back.
On Monday, Brendan Drodge told CTV News his 11-year-old boy Wyatt will continue riding in his school van until at least the end of the school year.
According to Drodge, the decision was made last week following a controversial Simcoe County District School Board (SCDSB) decision to review and remove transportation for students with special needs who live within the board's designated walking distance from schools.
The walking zone is 1.6 kilometres for elementary school students and 3.2 for high schoolers.
RELATED
- Barrie family wins 4-month battle for son's school bus service to be reinstated
- Parents of students with special needs upset over SCDSB bus changes
Drodge said the school board had granted Wyatt an additional six weeks of transportation before it was taken away, pending an appeal.
The board says the initial decision was part of an annual review of transportation for students within walking zones of schools to promote student independence in the community.
Drodge and several other local families were shocked to hear the news around Christmas their children were no longer eligible for school van transportation.
"It's going to mean that he can't go to school," Drodge said in an interview with CTV News in February, explaining his son was unable to board a school bus packed with children and instead required a van.
"Frankly, the disruption he's had already is unacceptable," said Drodge.
The school board insisted the decision to review school transportation did not target students with special needs, as many parents had claimed, and while the board has a $2 million transportation deficit, chairperson Jodi Lloyd said the decision was not based on money.
"If we have special education students who require specialized transportation, most certainly we provide that for those students," said Lloyd in a February interview.
"Our goal and objective for all of our students, and especially our special education students are to create independence and self-sufficiency so that when they leave the board, they can operate and be self-sufficient within their community," she said.
Drodge said an offer by the board to extend van transportation for six weeks was scheduled to end soon, but he's not been promised transportation for Wyatt will continue until the end of June.
"Decisions like this that impact the children and their family so much, at the very least, should have parental input," argued Drodge.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Deaths of 4 people on Sask. farm confirmed as murder-suicide
The deaths of four people on a farm near the Saskatchewan village of Neudorf have been confirmed a murder-suicide.
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
Full parole granted to man convicted in notorious 'McDonald's murders' in Cape Breton
The Parole Board of Canada has granted full parole to one of three men convicted in the brutal murders of three McDonald's restaurant workers in Cape Breton more than 30 years ago.
Incident on Calgary's Reconciliation Bridge comes to safe resolution
Calgary police shut down a number of bridges into and out of the downtown core as officers dealt with a distraught individual. The incident lasted almost 20 hours.
Sunshine list: These were the Ontario public sector's highest earners in 2023
Ontario released its annual sunshine list Thursday afternoon, noting that the largest year-over-year increases were in hospitals, municipalities, and post-secondary sectors.
George Washington family secrets revealed by DNA from unmarked 19th century graves
Genetic analysis has shed light on a long-standing mystery surrounding the fates of U.S. President George Washington's younger brother Samuel and his kin.
'We won't forget': How some Muslims view Poilievre's stance on Israel-Hamas war
A spokesman for a regional Muslim advocacy group says Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre's stance on the Israel-Hamas war could complicate his party's relationship with Muslim Canadians.
Why some Christians are angry about Trump's 'God Bless the USA' Bible
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is officially selling a copy of the Bible themed to Lee Greenwood’s famous song, 'God Bless the USA.' But the concept of a Bible covered in the American flag has raised concern among religious circles.