Commute for Point Roberts students not expected to worsen if Canada-US border remains closed

POINT ROBERTS, WA (NEWS 1130) — The daily commute for kids living in Point Roberts isn’t expected to get much worse this fall, even if the Canada-U.S. border remains closed.

Middle and high school students in Point Roberts are forced to cross the border four times a day to get to school due to the isolation of the small spit of land where the community is located, but their commute may be cut in half due to COVID-19.

If the border continues to stay closed beyond the end of August when school in Blaine resume, Superintendent Chris Granger says they expect the same situation this fall as they had in the spring, which is an exemption from Canada Border Services for school buses to cross the line.

“Approximately half the students would be remote, and half the students would be sitting in the classroom. And the next week, those students would — in essence — be in an alternate location,” he told NEWS 1130.

RELATED:

• Canada-U.S. reach tentative agreement to extend border closure: source

• Point Roberts residents petition to cross Canadian border

• ‘Safest’ town in the U.S. just steps away

Granger said many of the students in Point Roberts might end up doing less time commuting this fall than they had previously if the hybrid system they’re working on is put in place.

“Some students will come Monday through Thursday on an A week, and their B week they’ll learn remotely.”

Granger added they anticipate the previous exemptions Canadian Border Services made for Point Roberts students will be maintained into the fall.

“We’ve remained constant communication with Border Patrol agencies from Canada and the United States. And we’ve been able to utilize district vehicles to transport food, through the school closure in the spring to assist families,” he said.

“And so we expect that to continue. But we do remain in communication with the agencies in case anything were to change. But right now, they’ve been really collaborative and working with us and knowing the needs of students and I anticipate that them being transported on a school bus is not going to be problematic.”

On Tuesday, a source confirmed to 1310 NEWS that the Canadian and U.S. governments have a tentative agreement to extend the ban on non-essential travel until at least August 21, as COVID-19 cases continue to surge south of the border.