Windsor high school students should not receive less transportation support simply because they live in Windsor.
For high school students, Windsor-Essex Student Transportation Services sets 3.2 kilometres as the distance threshold for transportation eligibility. Elsewhere in Essex County, students who meet that requirement receive school-board-supported transportation to their home school.
But in Windsor, high school students attending their home schools receive no school-board-supported transportation, even when they live beyond 3.2 kilometres.
Their families are on their own. They pay for Transit Windsor, drive their children, or find another way to get them to and from school.
Same distance. Different treatment because they live in Windsor.
That isn't fair, and it's an inequity we can fix.
I'm proposing that Windsor's school boards and the City work together on a model already being used in communities across Ontario: school boards pay for Transit Windsor passes for eligible high school students, while the school boards and Transit Windsor work together to make sure students have reasonable service to get to and from school.
But making that happen requires the City and school boards to come to the table together.
I'm asking candidates running for school board trustee in Windsor to commit to bringing their boards to that table after the election.
I'm making the same commitment from the municipal side. If Ward 1 residents elect me to City Council, I'll do my part to make sure the City is there too.
We don't need to invent a solution. We can learn from what's already working elsewhere in Ontario and develop a model that works for Windsor.
What This Looks Like in Ward 1
The inequity is easy to see right here in Ward 1.
Students living in the Roseland neighbourhood and south of there are more than 3.2 kilometres from Holy Names High School.
In Northwood and Southwood Lakes, students can live more than 3.2 kilometres from Massey High School and more than five kilometres from Holy Names.
Yet they receive no school-board-supported transportation.
One Ward 1 mom I spoke to with three high school students taking Transit Windsor pays more than $250 every month just to get her children to and from school.
If those students lived elsewhere in Essex County and met the same transportation eligibility requirement, their transportation would be provided.
That isn't fair to Windsor students or their families.
How We Got Here
Transit Windsor previously operated School Extra buses to supplement regular transit service when large numbers of students were travelling to and from Windsor high schools.
When those services were eliminated, students were expected to use the regular Transit Windsor network instead.
Families raised concerns about lengthy trips, multiple transfers, overcrowding, and whether the regular transit system provided a reasonable way for students to get to and from school.
Following months of advocacy, City Council temporarily reinstated the remaining Route 1000 School Extra serving Massey and Holy Names through December 2026, giving the school boards time to review student transportation needs.
But preserving one bus temporarily was never the long-term solution.
Families asked the City and school boards to work together to find one. That still needs to happen.
A Solution That Works for Windsor Students
The solution is straightforward.
School boards should pay for Transit Windsor passes for high school students who meet the 3.2-kilometre transportation eligibility requirement.
The school boards and Transit Windsor should work together to make sure those students have reasonable transit service to get to and from school.
A free transit pass alone isn't enough if it takes a student an unreasonable amount of time or multiple buses to get to school.
That means looking at routes, travel times, transfers, and whether there is enough service when students are travelling to and from school.
Ontario Communities Provide Models
Windsor does not need to invent this approach.
Ottawa provides a strong example. Eligible students can receive school-board transit passes to use OC Transpo to get to and from school. The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority also works with OC Transpo on student transportation needs, including service and capacity.
London has brought the Thames Valley District School Board, City of London, and London Transit Commission together on a secondary-school transit-pass initiative.
Kingston also has an established high-school transit-pass program involving Kingston Transit and local schools and school boards.
The programs are not identical, and Windsor does not need to copy any one of them.
What they demonstrate is simple: school boards and municipal transit systems can work together to get students to school.
Working Together on a Long-Term Solution
For months, families have been asking the City and school boards to work together on a long-term solution. That still needs to happen.
The temporary extension of Route 1000 gave us time. The next step is to use that time to develop a solution that works for students across Windsor.
I'm asking trustee candidates to commit to bringing their boards to the table after the election. If I'm elected to represent Ward 1 on City Council, I'll do my part to make sure the City is there too.
We know the inequity. We know there are models elsewhere in Ontario that can help us solve it.
Now we need to work together and get it done.