Route Status Information

Good afternoon,

This is our second weekly update for students and families on the disruption to school bus service affecting the Renfrew County District School Board (RCDSB) and Renfrew County Catholic School Board (RCCDSB).

We share your frustrations and want to provide you with the latest information as we work hard to get buses on the road.

School bus operators last agreed to meet with us on September 3, 2024. After several requests, the school bus operators have now agreed to meet again on Monday, September 23, 2024. Directors of Education for both the RCDSB and RCCDSB will attend this meeting to listen and to share information with the goal of supporting positive dialogue between the operators and Consortium.

We want to see our students back on buses immediately, and we hope this will be a positive and productive meeting.

School boards and student transportation are funded through public dollars. While we explore all options to resolve this disruption, we have an obligation to be fiscally responsible with public funding to protect education services for students.

As part of our effort to explore all possible options for a resolution, we remain in regular contact with the Ministry of Education to ensure they are fully aware of the impact this disruption is having on students’ education.

The consortium and the school boards would like to thank students, families, and the entire community for their patience, and for all that has been done to help our students get to school safely.

We will continue to share information with families and students on an ongoing basis.

Sincerely,

Justin Jeffrey | General Manager

Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium

August 27, 2024

Dear Families,

The RCJTC has been working over the past number of months to secure school bus service by any means available within the budget allotted to student transportation. This budget allotment, and the offers we have made to the school bus companies, reflects a 12% funding increase that the RCDSB and RCCDSB advocated for and secured from the Ministry of Education for the 2024-2025 school year.

Unfortunately, the school bus companies have maintained that this 12% increase is not enough, and there are no additional funds the school boards can offer without pulling dollars from classrooms and student programming.

There has been no movement from any of the school bus service companies that would lead to agreements on new contract extensions and alternative options will not be in place fast enough to see buses on the roads from other service providers.  

This means a disruption to school bus service is likely at the start of the school year. 

Students and families are highly encouraged to explore what alternatives they have available to get students safely to school in the event that school buses are not running.

We understand how stressful this situation is for families and the RCJTC continues to explore all options to see school bus service in place for students. We have issued a Request For Supplier Qualifications (RFSQ) in hopes of securing transportation services from other companies.

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.

More information on the situation can be found here www.onthebus.ca/updates  We will continue to provide updates directly to the community when there is more information to share.

Sincerely,

Justin Jeffrey | General Manager

Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium

Monday, August 12, 2024

Dear Students and Families,

The Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium (RCJTC) has been in discussions with school bus service companies to secure student transportation services for the upcoming school year. Unfortunately, the school bus service companies have yet to agree to the terms we have put forward for the 200 bus routes which we coordinate for students across the RCDSB and RCCDSB.

Unlike years before, the school bus service companies are refusing to guarantee that there will be student transportation services in September unless contract extensions are reached. Our goal is to continue working hard to secure services for students and their families. However, you need to be aware that buses may not be running for the first day of school on September 4, in order to consider what other options may be available.

The most recent contract extension offers from RCJTC have been rejected by the school bus service companies.

RCJTC has enormous respect and appreciation for the school bus drivers and the important role they play in our students’ education. However, our funding comes from the Ministry of Education, through the school boards. The funding provides a set amount specifically for student transportation. This means we are limited in what we can offer for rate increases to school bus service companies and the length of contracts we can agree to. Although our offers have included unprecedented increases to rates, meeting the current demands is simply not possible without cuts to programs and services that directly impact classroom education.

School bus service companies are private, for-profit businesses. These companies are ultimately responsible for hiring, training, and paying individual school bus drivers. The service companies have informed us that they will not have buses on the road in September without contracts in place.

We understand this may be stressful news to hear over the summer, but we want to make sure students and families have time to plan ahead. We hope to reach contract extensions that are fair and reasonable for everyone involved. RCJTC is exploring all options to secure student transportation services, which may include exploring alternative companies to service our bus routes.

We will provide students and their families with updates on new developments. If a disruption to services appears likely, we will do our best to inform families as early as possible.

An FAQ is available here: www.onthebus.ca/updates  

Sincerely,

Justin Jeffrey
General Manager
Renfrew County Joint Transportation Consortium       

Our priority is to get students to school safely, and we are exploring all options.

The RCJTC is committed to securing student transportation services for the start of the school year. We hope the school bus service companies will prioritize students and their families, and that transportation services will continue.

We want families to have ample notice whether buses will or won’t be on the road, but currently, contract extensions are not in place.

We had hoped there would be contract extensions in place at this point of the summer. In years past, school bus service companies would commit to providing service on the first day of school while we finalized details.

They have not made the same commitment this year and the contracts have expired. We wanted parents to be aware that a disruption to services was a possibility so alternative plans can be considered.

We have made fair and reasonable offers well above a rate-of-inflation increase to ensure student transportation services continue, including offering a multi-year contract extension.

In the interest of a good faith process, we will not disclose the details of the discussions. Meeting the demands of the school bus companies is simply not possible with the current funding for student transportation, without making cuts to services and programs that would directly impact classroom education.

The RCJTC coordinates transportation services for over 10,000 students across Renfrew County.  Our priority is to get students to school safely, and we are exploring all options to have busses on the roads to transport students for the start of the 2024-25 school year. This may include exploring alternative companies to service our bus routes.

Unfortunately, should there be a broad disruption to student transportation services, RCJTC will not be able to provide alternative arrangements for households. In the event of a disruption, students and their families will need to make their own arrangements for student transportation.

In the interest of a good faith process we will not disclose the details of discussions. The increases school bus service companies are asking for are considerably higher than previous contract extensions and cannot be met even with the additional transportation funding provided by the Ministry of Education for the 2024-25 school year.

In the interest of a good faith process we will not disclose the details of the discussions. We can say that the RCDSB and RCCDSB secured a significant and unprecedented increase to transportation funding from the Ministry of Education for the 2024-2025 school year, and the school bus companies have indicated the increase is not enough.

The increases the school bus companies are asking for are not an amount the school boards can meet without pulling dollars from funding meant for student programming, classrooms and school operations.

In response to advocacy, the Ministry of Education delivered a significant increase to student transportation funding for RCDSB and RCCDSB for the 2024-2025 school year, and that increase is reflected in the RCJTC’s offers to school bus companies. This rate is well beyond a rate-of-inflation or cost of living increase.

In addition, RCJTC:

• Provides a yearly $2000 recruitment and retention bonus to school bus companies per driver, to be paid directly to drivers from the school bus companies.
• Provides funding for fuel directly to bus service companies to cover the fluctuating cost of gas.

Both these items are provided separate and apart from rate increases being offered for the contract extensions.

We hope the school bus service companies are open to continuing discussions towards reasonable contract extensions that get students to school and keeps public dollars targeted to their education within the classroom.

With no routes running, it is not feasible for boards to cover the cost for the over 10,000 students who will be without service in the event of a disruption. Our priority is to ensure there is service available at the start of the school year, and we are exploring all options to see that happen.

RCJTC has contracts successfully negotiated with taxi services that services students with complex special needs who are not typically transported by school bus companies. Additionally, the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board owns a school bus and directly operates route 240K. Families of students whose transportation is secured for Sept 4th have received an email confirming this information. 

RCJTC coordinates bus service for more than 10,000 students across Renfrew County, and unfortunately, it is not feasible to provide limited-time service to all households in the event of a region-wide disruption. Our priority is to ensure there is service available at the start of the school year for all students, and we are exploring all options to see that happen.

11. Why are there school buses running for students in the French language school boards?

In response to advocacy, the Ministry of Education delivered a significant increase to student transportation funding for RCDSB and RCCDSB for the 2024-2025 school year, and that increase is reflected in the RCJTC’s offers to school bus companies. However, RCJTC and the two local school boards which it serves do not have access to the details of the contracts the French language board has in place and cannot speak to those contracts. The French language transportation consortium is a separate entity and negotiates its contracts for student transportation independently.   

12. What is an RFSQ, and how is that going to help provide transportation for students?

An RFSQ is a Request For Supplier Qualifications. It’s part of a process to seek suppliers and ensure they are qualified to provide the services an organization needs, and at an appropriate cost. This is the first step to explore other service providers to deliver bus transportation services for RCDSB and RCCDSB students in September if the current companies will not provide service through new contract extensions.

We share the concern and frustration of parents around the uncertainty of bus services, and are doing everything in our power to see school buses on the roads for the first day of school. To that end, RCJTC has issued the RFSQ to consider school bus companies outside of Renfrew County, and we hope other companies will see the opportunity for business and be able to provide safe and reliable transportation for students. 

13. Why are school bus operators short drivers or not hiring?

While RCJTC coordinates transportation for students across Renfrew County, our service contracts are with the school bus companies, not the individual drivers. School bus companies are the employers of bus drivers, and are responsible for the recruitment, hiring and training of school bus drivers. 

14. Why are contract discussions happening now, right before the start of the new school year?

These conversations have been ongoing since the end of last school year. That is when the school bus companies informed RCJTC and the two school boards that they would not provide service in September without new contracts in place. 

This is a radical departure from how we have done business in the past, when there was a mutual agreement that student transportation services would continue, while we finalized contracts. We had hoped to reach a solution by this point, but unfortunately that is not the case and we have the responsibility to inform families of a possible service disruption.

We are exploring all options to secure new contracts as part of our primary goal to provide student transportation services for the start of the school year.