EAGLE VALLEY
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Multi-use path urged instead of sidewalk Page 3
Young country duo schedule local concert Page 7
Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015 PM40008236
Vol. 60 No. 35 Sicamous, B.C., • 1.25 (GST included) • www.eaglevalleynews.com
Safety concerns raised over new school bus stop
Two Mile: Parent to appeal change that requires her children to cross 97A. By Lachlan Labere Eagle Valley News
A Two Mile resident is contesting a school busing change that will require her elementary school children to either cross Highway 97A to catch the bus, or else walk to school. Melissa Fallis has two daughters, ages six and eight, who attend Parkview Elementary. She says last year her kids were able to catch the school bus on the frontage road just down from her Wolfe Street residence. For the 2015/16 school year, however, Fallis says the morning bus stop will be on the other side of Highway 97A, in front of Sicamous Creek Mobile Home Park. The drop-off will be on the frontage road. The idea of her or any kids having to cross 97A mornings and afternoons has Fallis upset and conHe said the only cerned for their safety. “What makes it even reason they’re actumore unsafe is my eight- ally stopping at the year-old has petit mal and mobile home park is grand mal seizures, so it’s on the way back there’s always the risk of into town and it’s getting hit by a vehicle, but more a courtesy than there’s also the risk of my anything. Melissa Fallis little girl having a seizure in the middle of the road,” says Fallis, noting there is no marked crosswalk on 97A, or signs suggesting traffic slow down for children on the road. Dependent upon the school bus to get her children to school, Fallis’ first course of action was to contact School District #83 operations manager Frank Marasco. She said she was told bussing isn’t a right but a privilege, and because she lives within four kilometres of the school, her kids technically do not qualify for that privilege. (School district policy states to be eligible for regular transportation to and from school, students in kindergarten to Grade 3 must live a disSee Marked school crossing on page 2
Children crossing: Chris Evans, Natalia and Ella Suk, Melissa Fallis and Austyn Evans wait for a break in the traffic on Highway 97A to cross to where Natalia and Ella will be picked up by the school bus. Photo by Evan Buhler