Busing to continue next year for Catholic students in Georgetown South and West areas

Busing will continue next year for Christ the King students from the Georgetown South and Trafalgar West areas. Busing for the Georgetown South students seemed to be in jeopardy this winter when Halton Catholic District School Board trustees asked for a legal opinion on a 2002 resolution, which allowed the transportation. That legal opinion will be heard at Tuesday's (March 7) board meeting. However, in an interview yesterday (Thursday), McCauley said the board lawyer has re-confirmed her 2002 resolution as a standing motion, and that an annual vote on busing is not required. The bottom line, McCauley said, is that busing is safe for Georgetown South students. McCauley said she expects the only action to be done at Tuesday's meeting is her withdrawal of the tabling motion, and is not worried that any trustee would attempt to make changes to the 2002 motion. The opinion was sought after staff brought the transportation issue to a board vote earlier this year. Board staff say busing for this area is an exception to the board's transportation policy, and should be voted on annually by the trustees. But Halton Hills trustee Irene McCauley disagrees. She said it was mistake to bring the matter to the board for a vote, as her 2002 resolution clearly stated that busing would be provided based on safety and environmental hazards. Her resolution read: that the bus transportation be provided to all students residing in Georgetown South (south of Hungry Hollow Ravine) to Christ the King Secondary School in Georgetown. When some trustees, unfamiliar with the area, began questioning why Georgetown South students were receiving the busing, McCauley tabled the discussion at the February 7 meeting until a legal opinion was obtained. Last month, Halton Catholic

District School Board approved as a policy exception the busing for the Trafalgar West area, provided that it could be done at no extra cost to the board. This exception has been approved annually for several years, again based on safety hazards for walking students.