An Osgoode mom is facing a dilemma after her finding out her six-year-old son won't be getting picked up by a yellow school bus next week. 

Ashley Happy and her three children live 1.53 kilometers from Osgoode Public School, according to the Ottawa Student Transportation Authority, making the family ineligible for a school bus. 

Happy's six-year-old Lucas was allowed to bus to school last year because he was in kindergarten and the rules are different. Students from Grade 1 to Grade 8 must live at least 1.6 kilometers from school to qualify for busing. 

"I can put her (my baby) in a stroller and the middle one in the stroller, and the older one would walk," said Happy. "About 45 minutes it would take me to get to school and he starts school at 8 a.m." 

With three young children under seven, and no sidewalks in her area, Happy said she is worried about her eldest son walking to school every day. 

'We would be taking side roads, but behind my house is a road with an 80 kilometer speed limit and they often come into our neighbourhood at 80 kilometers per hour and we have no sidewalks out here whatsoever," Happy said, adding that the roads are not plowed very well in the winter. 

On its website, OSTA says "In urban residential areas, bus stops are to be community collection points placed at street corners as much as possible. This reduces bus ride times dramatically, and increases student safety by reducing other motorist frustrations."

Area trustee Mark Fisher said bus zones need to more flexible with different criteria for students living in urban and rural areas.

"When you look at walkability and getting to school in places like Osgoode and Metcalfe, it's complicated and unfortunately a lot of these parents are falling into this grey zone where they are meters away from where a pick-up zone is," he said. 

Fisher said he has been working with local councilors and MPPs for several years to get OSTA to relax their rules in rural areas. 

"OSTA needs to do its job but where there are clearly some concerns and special interests, let's sit down and have a logical conversation about how to accommodate some of these students and parents." 

Happy can appeal OSTA's decision and apply to get her son a seat on the bus once registration closes in October, but it could take weeks, if not months, before a decision is made.

"I think their distance is just too steep for a six-year-old," she said. "1.6 kilometers is not that far for adults, but for a six-year-old that is quite a distance for them to have to walk."

OSTA has yet to return a request to comment.