Waterloo school board warns of bus cancellations due to COVID-19

The Waterloo Region District School Board is warning parents that there may be bus shortages over the next few weeks with potential staff shortages due to COVID-19.

“We want to share an important update from Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region (STSWR),” the letter reads.

“Bus companies are now experiencing an increase in driver absences due to COVID-19 isolation.”

The board says that 90 per cent of bus routes are currently running normally although some routes have had delays of more than 50 minutes.

It says this has meant that STSWR will be cancelling some routes between January 25 and February 18.

The board did not say which routes would be cancelled but did note that the cancellation would be communicated to the affected students and families.

It said a route would be cancelled if a driver is in isolation due to COVID-19 and there is insufficient coverage for them.

The board says this will leave family with several options including finding alternative transportation to school for children or remote learning using their virtual learning environment or with asynchronous lessons on TVO and STVLElementary.