Kids in Renfrew County will be heading back to school in a few weeks, but they may not have a way to get there.
According to a recent news release, thousands of families in Eastern Ontario may be without school bus service this September as school bus operators serving Renfrew County are without a contract.
“The local bus operators have faced 30% to 70% soaring costs to keep buses running safely” says Mark Allan, spokesperson for the bus operators, “Bus operators in neighbouring jurisdictions are receiving rates up to 20% higher than in Renfrew County, but costs to operate buses are the same.”
The release went on to state that it was “time for newly appointed Minister of Education Todd Smith to fix broken funding protocols that have left The Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium (RCJTC) unwilling to negotiate fairly.”
The RCJTC, a non-profit organization that coordinates transportation for both the Renfrew Country and Catholic School Boards, stated in a news release that “School bus companies are asking for multi-year contracts at substantially higher rates than what RCJTC, which is funded through the school boards and the Ministry of Education, can provide. The ask is well outside the reasonable increases RCJTC has provided year after year.”
The release also noted that RCJTC “provides fuel payments to school bus companies to cover the cost of fuel that are responsive to fluctuating fuel prices.”
The news release representing the bus operators states that they have received “paltry” funding increases of 0% (2020-2021); 0% (2021-2022); 2% (2022-2023); and 4% (2023-2024).
The release went on to say that the RCJT’s last offer of 12% falls “woefully short” of the 30 to 70% increase in costs to operate.
Justin Jeffrey, General Manager for RCJTC said he wanted to make clear the “enormous amount of respect and appreciation” they have for school bus drivers.
“While we are hoping for and working toward contract extensions, at issue here is the massive increase to rates the school bus companies are requesting. We have already offered unprecedented and substantial increases. Meeting those requests is impossible within the existing transportation budgets without pulling dollars from schools and student programming,” Jeffrey added.
RCJTC says that they are “exploring all options to secure student transportation services for the beginning of the school year, including with alternative companies to service bus routes.”
They went on to say that at this point a disruption to student transportation services is “likely” for the start of the school year, and that they will do their best to inform students and their families as early as possible.
The Renfrew County School Bus Operators transport 10,000 students every day, some covering distances of over 100km and over 90 minutes using more than 200 buses and mini vans.
