The first week of school has officially wrapped up, but many parents are still left confused about the state of busing.
On Thursday a bus destined for Basinview Drive Community School was over an hour late in the morning, forcing parents to make alternative arrangements.
After Stock and the Halifax Regional Centre for Education held a press conference later that day touting a 97 per cent success rate, there was some optimism from parents.
“They were on the news yesterday, they said, ‘We’re going to fix things,’ and, you know, ‘We have a great success rate,’” said Kate Nephew.
“So I woke up this morning and was thinking, ‘Good, we’ll get to the bus stop early.’”
But once again, 40 minutes passed and still no bus arrived. Parents opted to make alternative arrangements instead of waiting longer to see if it would come.
“I’m late for the office and they’re late for school,” said Raj Rajnikntha.
Nephew said parents joked about just renting their own shuttle to get their kids to school, but added it’s not a laughing matter.
“It leaves me scrambling trying to figure out how to get my kids to school once again.”
The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) represents drivers, monitors and mechanics at Stock Transportation. NSGEU President Jason MacLean said everyone is feeling the pressure, but the safety of children is a top priority.
“It’s a new school year, it’s a new system and people are trying to work within the system. There are glitches, and people are trying to work through it,” MacLean said.
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In addition to scheduling concerns, parents have also spoken out about bus stop locations and overcrowding on buses.
Jill Gallant said her five-year-old goes to the St. Margaret’s Centre for an after-school program, but was informed Wednesday he would be dropped off further down the road.
“It’s an unsafe location,” said Gallant. “There’s no sidewalk, people go quite fast down this hill, it’s a blind turn downhill.”
She said she tried calling Stock to have that changed but couldn’t reach anyone. Then on Thursday, her son wasn’t allowed to board the bus at all.
Gallant said it is frustrating that no one is taking accountability.
“It’s like they don’t really care about the safety of our children, and that’s quite concerning. “
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At the Nova Scotia legislature Friday, Education Minister Zach Churchill said they are working through challenges that exist at the beginning of the year.
“We know we need to do better when it comes to getting kids too and from school,” he admitted.
“We’re committed to looking at best practices in this province, across the country, to make sure we’re implanting those here in Nova Scotia.”
NDP education critic Claudia Chender says the government needs to do more to prevent these things from happening.
“The statement that this happens every year is really an abdication. If it happens every year, it should get fixed.”