SCHOOL BUS WOES

Toronto public and Catholic boards say chaos has improved slightly since last week,

Halton Region parents were warned Monday about school bus delays, just as the Toronto boards reported slightly fewer transportation troubles after a chaotic first week.

Karen Lacroix, general manager of Halton Student Transportation Services, said that although the region is “not in the same situation as Toronto, we do have a driver shortage situation. Our bus companies are working very diligently, trying to recruit and hire and they have been throughout the summer.”

While in Toronto some kids have waited for buses that never showed up, Halton buses are running10 to 20 minutes late — although part of that is “due to September startup,” Lacroix said, referring to typical slowdowns that happen every school year. Roughly 20 of 450 routes ran late Monday morning, most of them in Burlington and Oakville.

In the Toronto public board alone, 1,275 students were affected last week. On Monday, that number dropped to 1,066 students. Between the public and Catholic boards, some 60 routes had no driver last week; on Monday that was down to 45.

Ontario’s ombudsman has said he will look into the issue, and the education ministry is looking at the formula it uses to fund transportation.

Toronto public board trustees Pam Gough and Ken Lister are asking Director of Education John Malloy to report on what happened and how to fix the problem. Their motion comes before a special meeting Wednesday.

“This recruitment and keeping bus drivers is an ongoing challenge for every bus company,” said Cathy Abraham of the Ontario Public School Boards’ Association. “It doesn’t pay well, and shifts are split. It’s tough to keep people wanting to work there. What we do know is that while the situation in Toronto is the one people are paying attention to, it is happening in pockets around the province.”