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I have to agree with Brian Graham's concern as expressed in this article.
My daughter attends Notre Dame Catholic School as well (and) I refuse to see my child or any child walk this distance .
Not only are some of the children too young, or have disabilities that make walking hard, this walk is going to be a hike in the winter. I've walked this before (in the nice weather) and even with me walking at a steady pace it took me nearly 20 minutes. Kids tend to walk at a slower pace and doddle.
When I called and expressed my concern I was told it was about equality to all students in the Simcoe County area. The official didn't elaborate, and repeated herself many times.
When I asked if I could express my views to the board of directors, the official replied: "This was the board's decision, and it has been in the works for many years."
My thoughts were if this has been "in the works for many years" why haven't they notified parents prior to this and that this decision was being made? I live 1.6 km from Notre Dame. When I received the letter from the school it stated any child within that range would be bused. The official then told me "all of West Ridge is affected."
I then told her that we live in the part of West Ridge that is closer to Costco (directly across from Nordia). She then said "it doesn't matter. It's still in walking range."
She then told me that many of the people from Simcoe County Student Transportation Consortium have walked the trail and found it to be safe. Keep in mind these are adults walking the trail not children. Adults are less likely to be approached by a stranger then a child is .
The wooded trail they want the kids to walk tends to have teenagers smoking, no visibility from the trail to the actual path that leads to the school and in the winter isn't maintained for people to walk through.
Unfortunately, some parents can't take time in the morning to walk their children due to work schedules, hence why a lot of parents and children rely on the bus.
Laura Tibando-Fox
Orillia
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