Printed Aug 27, 2024 • Final up to date Aug 27, 2024 • 3 minute learn
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Renfrew County college students and their mother and father should discover their very own method again to highschool subsequent week as negotiations between bus operators and the Transportation Consortium stay at a standstill and the operators are locked out of the computerized route planning system.
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Late on the afternoon of Aug. 26, college bus operators in Renfrew County and district issued an announcement that learn, “… the Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium (RCJTC) has failed to meet a crucial deadline for adequately funding school bus operations, destroying any hopes of school bus services on the first day of class next week.”
In the identical assertion, the college bus operators mentioned with out fast motion, buses is not going to be operational on all routes till at the least October. The operators attribute this delay to the continued stalemate in negotiating a brand new contract with the RCJTC who the operators say can also be refusing to grant the operators entry to the computerized planning system used for organizing bus routing.
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“The decision by RCJTC not to negotiate and to lock us out of the system is an underhanded blow to our ability to ensure safe and timely transportation for students,” mentioned Alan Jackson, spokesperson for the college bus operators. “And now, we’re losing drivers. Some are actively looking for other jobs and others have already been forced to secure other work to make ends meet for their families. This is making the situation even more critical, since it’s very difficult to attract new drivers to begin with.”
In accordance with the RCJTC, the multi-year contracts at considerably increased charges that the bus operators are looking for are exterior what the Consortium, which is funded by means of the college boards and the Ministry of Training, can present.
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Justin Jeffrey, common supervisor of the RCJTC, responded on Tuesday, Aug. 27 to the bus operators, stating the Consortium has been working over the previous variety of months to safe college bus service by any means obtainable throughout the funds allotted to scholar transportation.
“This budget allotment, and the offers we have made to the school bus companies, reflects a 12 per cent funding increase that the RCDSB (Renfrew County District School Board) and RCCDSB (Renfrew County Catholic District School Board) advocated for and secured from the Ministry of Education for the 2024-2025 school year,” Jeffrey mentioned in a launched assertion. “Unfortunately, the school bus companies have maintained that this 12 per cent increase is not enough, and there are no additional funds the school boards can offer without pulling dollars from classrooms and student programming.”
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Jeffrey additionally defined the rationale for the RCJTC blocking entry to the bus route planning laptop system.
“We also want to assure families that despite comments they may see about school bus service companies wanting access to our route planning systems, for privacy reasons, RCJTC will not share the personal information of our students and families with any company that does not have a contract in place with RCJTC,” Jeffrey mentioned.
Practically 10,000 college students (68 per cent) are bussed to Renfrew County District and Catholic District College Board faculties positioned all through the huge expanse of Renfrew County and district. The realm serviced options 200 bus routes.
“The first week back is supposed to be fun, but for Renfrew County families it will be filled with stress and anxiety because the Consortium won’t pass along funds that the Ministry of Education has allocated for our school buses,” Jackson continued.
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In accordance with the bus operators, they’re being funded at the least 20 per cent beneath surrounding areas whereas inflation for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 has pushed up their working prices between 30 and 70 per cent. The six per cent enhance they’ve been given over the previous 4 years doesn’t cowl their working prices, the operators mentioned.
In an effort to safe scholar transportation companies, on Aug. 14 the RCJTC posted a Request for Provider Qualification (RFSQ) for scholar transportation companies for English public and Catholic faculties with a time limit of Sept. 30. The RFSQ is issued on an “urgent expedited basis for the 2024/2025 to 2026/2027 school years” for route bundles to be awarded on a first-come-first-assigned foundation to eligible service suppliers which incorporates new service suppliers and prior service suppliers.
French Catholic and public college college students are unaffected by the dispute as these contracts are negotiated individually and people faculties aren’t a part of the RCJTC.
The bus operators mentioned they need to proceed negotiations and are calling on the Consortium to right away return to the bargaining desk with a long-term provide that may present funding stability.
The RCJTC mentioned it should present updates to the neighborhood when there may be extra data to share.
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