Pembroke parents frustrated over cancelled school bus route

Families with children at a public school in Pembroke are expressing frustration over a cancelled school bus route which they say is costing them money and having an impact on their kids education.

Parents have been raising concerns over the cancelled 166K route, serving Bishop Smith Catholic High School and Champlain Discovery Public School since the school year began in September.

Parents from Champlain Discovery Public School say the Route 166K isn't particularly long and does not go far into rural areas, but the service has not been running without an explanation from the Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium, who runs the bus service.

• Sign up now for our nightly CTV News Ottawa newsletter
• The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App

Chelsea Lefebvre, a parent at Champlain Discovery says the service ran last school year and she was depending on having her three kids use it again this year to get to school.

"All last week my daughter couldn't even go to school because we had no bus and we had no means to get her here because we didn't have a vehicle." Lefebvre told CTV News Ottawa.

Lefebvre's experience is similar to dozens of other families impacted by the cancellation.

Michelle Landry is a delivery driver in the Pembroke area and says having to drop-off and pick-up her son from school everyday can result in adding over an hour to her work day. She says she was originally told the service would return by the end of October, but the date keeps getting pushed back.

"They didn't really give us a reason," said Landry.

CTV News Ottawa contacted the Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium and Renfrew County School Board trustee for Champlain Discovery, Leo Boland, but they did not respond to requests for comment.

Parents say the latest information they've received says bus service will resume next year when school begins on Jan. 12.

But frustrated parents say they have little faith the bus will actually show up.

"Zero percent," said parent Katelyn Fischer.

"We did have a bus one morning and then it never showed up to pick our kids up from school that night. My son waited outside in the school yard until five o'clock."

As other buses line up outside Champlain Discovery School everyday to take other students home, Lefebvre is wondering why they are being left without transportation.

"It makes me really upset because we're putting our tax money into this and obviously nothing is being done," Lefebvre said.

"And it's only our bus that's affected."