In an effort to reduce bus travel time and streamline routes, the French Language School Board in Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) is implementing school rezoning changes starting in September. The board has been dividing zones along yellow lines on roads, resulting in neighboring students attending different schools. To address this issue, the board is making adjustments to school zones. The most notable change will impact students in southern Kings County. Students from Murray Harbour, Murray River, and Gaspereaux will now attend École La-Belle-Cloche in Rollo Bay instead of École François-Buote in Charlottetown. In Prince County, students from Foxley River, Conway, and MacNeills Mills will be rezoned from École Pierre-Chiasson in DeBlois to École Évangéline in Abram-Village. While minimizing travel times is a priority, Ghislain Bernard, superintendent of the French Language School Board, acknowledges the challenges posed by the province’s limited number of French schools. “When you only have six schools, the zones tend to be quite large, and busing is always a factor that’s in the backs of everybody’s mind,” Bernard said. Despite these challenges, the board aims to optimize the use of its transportation services. Students who wish to remain at their current schools will not have door-to-door bus service and will be responsible for meeting the bus at designated stops. The board assures that these distances will be within an eight-minute drive or walk. With the province’s rapidly growing population, school zoning will be reevaluated more frequently to ensure efficient and accessible transportation for students. Even as students are transferred away from École François-Buote, the school is undergoing an expansion that will increase its capacity from 350 to 750 students.
French Language School Board in P.E.I. Rezones Schools to Reduce Bus Travel Time for Students
