A Kirkland man said he's frustrated he can't get busing for his 12-year-old son to his high school in Beaconsfield even though his neighbour right next door is eligible.
Clifford Weins said he can't understand why an exception can`t be made.
"I'm literally on top of this guy. I measured our door fronts - our driveways are four feet apart," said Weins when describing how close he lives to his neighbour.
Assistant director general at the Lester B. Pearson School Board Carol Heffernan said they have to go by the rules, especially now that COVID-19 measures have limited the amount of space on school buses.
"I sympathize completely with the parent but we have to put a threshold somewhere and from our experience, if we were to put the threshold at 2.3 (km), we'll get the parent living right beside the family who's at 2.3 and they'll ask it to be moved to 2.2, etc. etc.," said Heffernan in an interview with CJAD 800.
Weins said he's concerned it could be dangerous for his son to walk to and from Beaconsfield High School that's over 2 km away.
"We have some pretty nasty winters. The roads really are not good for walking around and you have kids walking more than 2 km on roads with no sidewalks," said Weins who reached out to yourstory@cjad.com.
"(My son would be) walking along a couple of streets that are basically two cars with ditches on either side and with snow plowing, it'll be a single lane."
Heffernan said if parents are concerned, they can apply to have their children get a spot on the schoolbus.
"It's the same walk that students have been doing for the past 30-40 years. We haven't had any problems in the past and it's good exercise for the student," said Heffernan.
If there's room on the bus, Weins can apply to get a seat for his son - for $300.
"The bus for us would be the best option and we use the car as an alternate but still it's every day, twice a day minimum - it's still a lot," said Weins.
Heffernan said a couple of hundred parents have applied for a space on the schoolbus and they are going through the applications now.