Frances Preston (centre) demonstrates how difficult it is to take her granddaughter to school. (CBC)An Edmonton woman who uses a wheelchair is fighting to get her granddaughter on a school bus because snowy and icy sidewalks make it hard to walk the child to school.

Monica Preston, 6, hasn't been to school since the snowstorm in early January.

Her grandmother, Frances Preston, uses a wheelchair because her left leg is amputated above the knee.

Preston tried to bring Monica to school, but trying to maneuver the snowy Mill Woods streets in a wheelchair, while pushing her 2-year-old grandson in a stroller was too difficult. She tried again a couple of weeks later but got stuck in the snow.

"I can't do it. I would love to," Preston said.

Preston's request to get her granddaughter on a school bus was turned down, because the child is within walking distance of the school.

The parents she relied on before for assistance can no longer help for a number of different reasons, she said.

Preston is now homeschooling the little girl.

"She's frustrated. She wants to be with her friends," she said.

Bus routes, funding, an obstacle, board says

An official with Edmonton Public Schools said the board is sympathetic to the situation, but it is impossible to make an exception.

"We have many families that have significant challenges in getting their children to school," said Lorne Parker, the managing director of planning and student transportation.

"And our system of transportation is built on eligibility through funding and through our route design. The system simply couldn't handle all the individual requests."

Parker said the principal of the school and the parent council continue to work with Preston to come up with a solution.

Preston acknowledges she has been talking to the school but nothing has been resolved. Her offer to pay for Monica's school bus was rebuffed by school officials. So her granddaughter will remain at home for now.

"It's not fair that my challenges are getting in the way. That anybody can't help me to help her," Preston said.

With files from the CBC's Andrea Huncar