A city councillor is speaking out in support of Windsor's public and Catholic school boards.
On Monday, the directors of education at both the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board (WECDSB) and the Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) asked council to defer a budget item that seeks to eliminate a Transit Windsor service known as "school extras".
The extra buses provide service to approximately 650 students at Vincent Massey and Riverside Secondary Schools and Holy Names and St. Joseph's Catholic High Schools.
During a news conference, the directors told reporters that ward 1 councillor Fred Francis was the only person from the city to reach out to them after they submitted a joint letter opposing the cuts.
Francis says he wanted to learn more.
"They shared with me, it's going to be really bad, with respect to number of transfers, with respect to making it to school on time, with respect to being able to get home at a reasonable hour after school, with respect to having the number of students loitering in and around the school areas after the closing bell," said Francis.
GECDSB director Vicki Houston said she and her counterpart at WECDSB were not consulted by the city and found out about the potential cuts through the media.
The directors stated that they understood the city has budgetary pressures and would like to be part of the solution.
Francis says he appreciates that the schools boards want to be partners.
"I don't know why we wouldn't talk to the school boards, especially if they're out there saying 'Hey listen, we want to be part of the solution, we want to help you, maybe there's something we can do'," he said. "At the very least we should do what they're asking, is to defer the decision."
The budget proposes using the nine eliminated buses used for the school extras to provide necessary service improvements and expansion along other routes, including the Dougall 6, South Windsor 7, Walkersville 8, Parent 14, and Route 115.
Francis says removing the extras would have no impact to the capital budget or proposed tax increase.
"This will not affect the budget one way or the other." he said. "You're dealing with moving nine buses from one place to another place, that's cost neutral to the operating budget. It doesn't affect the budget at all in 2025 from an operational standpoint. So why would we make a change that's negatively going to affect neighbourhoods in south Windsor and east Windsor, it doesn't make any sense."
Council will discuss the proposed budget during a special meeting on Jan. 27.
-With files from AM800's The Shift with Patty Handysides with guest host Kyle Horner