About 10,000 Upper Canada District School Board students were initially identified as potentially being affected by new school bus walking-distance and ride-time standards.
But most of those students continued to qualify for transportation after individual safety concerns were reviewed, due to the largely rural region the board represents where roads, sidewalks and other hazards can make longer walks unsafe.
UCDSB CBO Jeremy Hobbs said transportation policies include exceptions for students who face safety hazards.
Hobbs said the rural nature of the region also means the number of students actually removed from buses was relatively small.
After reviewing the individual circumstances of students in the affected group, the number expected to be impacted fell to about 1,000.
That means roughly 90 per cent of the students initially identified as potentially affected received an exemption, including for hazards and unsafe walking conditions.
