Negotiations ongoing as school buses remains off the roads in Renfrew County
Students wait to board a school bus. (Getty)
The Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium (RCJTC) and the county’s school bus operators are in active negotiations Wednesday, as school buses remain off the roads a month into the new school year.
Over 10,000 elementary and secondary school students in Renfrew County have been without school bus transportation this semester as the contract between the bus operators and the RCJTC expired.
Bus operators have said their costs have increased between 30 and 70 per cent since the COVID-19 pandemic began, but the RCJTC says it cannot offer more than the 12 per cent increase it put on the table without the school boards needing to make cuts elsewhere.
The RCJTC says any increase to the offer would have to come from funds already dedicated to student programming.
There have been escalating calls from parents and the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation for the provincial government to become more active in the negotiation process or increase funding to the region.
A virtual town hall is being held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday where parents, students, and concerned community members are encouraged to speak on the impacts of the bussing situation.
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