1000’s of scholars in Renfrew County will seemingly have to search out alternative routes to get to highschool subsequent week after a bunch representing the area’s faculty bus corporations stated there’s little chance a deal will likely be reached between the businesses and the consortium that co-ordinates faculty transportation within the area.
The warning comes two weeks after the Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium (RCJTC) despatched a letter to households saying faculty bus corporations had rejected its most up-to-date contract extension presents.
In a press release posted on-line Tuesday, Renfrew County College Bus Operators spokesperson Alan Jackson stated the RCJTC had “failed to fulfill a vital deadline.”
“With out rapid motion, buses is not going to be operation on all routes till October,” he warned, attributing the deadlock to “the Consortium’s refusal to barter a long-term, catch-up contract, and to grant entry to a necessary computerized planning system, crucial for organizing advanced bus routing.”
Consortium consultant Justin Jeffrey referred to as the businesses’ risk to withhold bus service firstly of the varsity yr an “unprecedented tactic,” and stated the RCJTC is aiming to get faculty buses again on the street as early as potential.
The consortium coordinates 200 bus routes for college kids throughout the Renfrew County District College Board and the Renfrew County Catholic District College Board, offering service to some 10,000 college students every faculty day.
Courses for college kids in each boards start Wednesday, Sept. 4.
Households urged to make different plans
The bus corporations have claimed the consortium is failing to move alongside an additional $2.2 million allotted to Renfew County by Ontario’s Ministry of Schooling for the upcoming faculty yr.
The ministry stated the mixed transportation funds for the 2024/25 faculty yr for each the general public and Catholic boards is $18.3 million.
Regardless of Renfrew County’s massive geographic dimension, Jackson stated the bus corporations are paid no less than 20 per cent lower than their counterparts in Ottawa and Kingston, Ont. CBC has not independently verified that declare.
The drivers aren’t represented by a union.
The extra I give it some thought, I wish to pull my hair out.- Kevin Sheaves, father of 4
Jackson accused the consortium of attempting to divide the area’s six faculty bus corporations by asking them to signal separate agreements. He stated if the smaller corporations bow to that stress, the consortium may attempt to leverage that in opposition to the bigger ones.
“We’re saying no, we wish to proceed as a bunch and we are able to negotiate as a bunch,” he stated, although he warned the longer negotiations drag on, the extra seemingly it’s some drivers will search employment elsewhere, probably resulting in a scarcity.
Jeffrey famous the consortium is negotiating with for-profit bus corporations, not with the drivers themselves, and stated the RCJTC has “lots of respect for bus drivers and the vital work they do in our group.”
He stated the ministry supplied the consortium a 12 per cent funding improve this yr, greater than it usually receives.
“This is a rise we have by no means seen earlier than,” he stated. “Prior to now, we have been completely happy when the quantity has reached 4 or 5 per cent. Sometimes it is a zero per cent, two per cent.”
For now, Jeffrey stated the consortium is urging households to make different preparations to get their children to and from faculty subsequent week.
Shawna Walker, a mom of two school-age boys who does not personal a automobile, is sad with the state of affairs. ‘Again to highschool is already hectic sufficient and lots of stress and this simply provides in yet one more factor,’ she stated. (Submitted by Shawna Walker)
Dad and mom left scrambling
Kevin Sheaves, a father of 4 youngsters who bus to highschool in Renfrew County, stated that will not be really easy.
“The extra I give it some thought, I wish to pull my hair out,” he stated.
Sheaves, an HVAC mechanic, stated he is normally at work an hour earlier than his children head out the door within the morning. His accomplice works related hours, so the couple depends on buses and daycare throughout the faculty yr.
“All people is aware of what the residing state of affairs is like proper now,” he stated. “Individuals have to be working, they want cash, they bought to place meals on the desk, that sort of factor, so it may be laborious.”
He stated his household will seemingly need to depend on grandparents and buddies to assist out till the state of affairs is resolved.
Shawna Walker stated her two boys might not get to highschool in any respect. Walker, a single mom who does not personal a automobile, stated their faculty is just too far for her youngsters to stroll, and she or he has no household within the space.
She’s been exploring different choices resembling carpooling or sending her children to highschool in a taxi, however neither choice is right.
Walker blamed the state of affairs on the province, which funds pupil transportation.
“Bus drivers are vital and so they do deserve cash, however the faculties are already very underfunded, so the place are they going to drag the cash from?” she requested. “The federal government wants to comprehend that youngsters are vital, and I really feel like usually we do not worth youngsters.”
