Policy Updates

P.01.17 Eligibility for Bussing *Changes Made

What has changed?

This policy has been updated to indicate that Out of Attendance Boundary / Zone bussing will no longer be provided. Bussing will only be provided to addresses within a school's attendance boundary / zone. If new families enroll at a school for which they are not in bounds/zone or move outside their school boundary / zone, it will be the families' responsibility to provide transportation. You can check address eligibility on our website. 

Additional adjustments were made to provide clarity that when families request a temporary seat from an address that is within walk distance to a school, we will only be granting temporary seats after September 30th in any given year and we will no longer be completely filling busses with temporary seats.

How will this be implemented?

Families who have received out of boundary/zone transportation for multiple school years will be considered "legacy" and transportation will be maintained as long as the student's transportation address remain the same. If there is a change in home address or a new sitter pick-up / drop-off is added, the new policy will be applied. There will still be an annual review of these arrangements to ensure the transportation assignment is to the closest existing stop on a vehicle with space available. 

For walker temporary seats, we will only begin granting temporary seats after September 30th, 2025 and we will be leaving some empty seats on school transportation vehicles to allow for eligible students to be added throughout the year.

Why make these changes?

The Bus Operators within Renfrew County have been facing a multi-year driver shortage that is not showing signs of improvement. This has meant that we have not always been able to provide daily transportation to school for all eligible students. These changes will, over time, create additional capacity on vehicles and allow us to reduce the number of drivers needed. The changes will also allow us additional route planning flexibility to split and combine routes when there are driver shortages to ensure all eligible students have a ride to school. 

P.01.18 Requirement for Regular Use of School Transportation *New Policy 

What does this mean? 

This policy will result in the removal of transportation privileges for students that do not make use of transportation services for fourteen (14) consecutive school days. 

How will this be implemented?

The Consortium, bus companies, and school teams will collaborate to conduct regular ridership audits. We will be cross-referencing student attendance to ensure that students who are absent from school (and thus not riding the bus) for legitimate reasons are not affected (i.e. medical, school events, etc.).

Why introduce this policy?

Transportation funding is intended to support students who need and rely on the bus as their primary means of getting to and from school. The transportation system is, therefore, designed with the intent that registered riders are using the service on a daily or regular basis.

The RCJTC recognizes that the sporadic or irregular use of transportation services adversely impacts other students and families on the affected routes, is costly and creates inefficiencies in the system. Over time, this policy will create additional capacity on vehicles and allow us to reduce the number of drivers needed. This policy will also improve the accuracy of bus stop timing as only stops that are actually being used will be planned for.