Parents of students attending bilingual schools throughout the Valley can breathe a sigh of relief.
The New Frontiers School Board (NFSB) confirmed Thursday evening that negotiations with the transportation providers have been settled.
“Our bus companies have accepted the offers presented,” says director of transportation, Michael Helm, in a message sent to all parents. “Busses will therefore be running for the first day of school,” he exclaims, before wishing families a great start to the 2022-2023 school year.
The Quebec government announced Thursday that it had concluded a new agreement in principle with the Fédération des transporteurs par autobus (FTA), after news broke earlier this week that school bus carriers in Montreal, the Montérégie and the Laurentians were refusing contracts with service centres.
“The ministry came through with additional allocations for companies and for driver salaries,” says Helm, which overall amounts to an indexation of 11.36 per cent.
The NFSB was in negotiations with its carriers for much of Thursday, confirms Helm, who admits there was a significant amount of uncertainty leading into the discussions that a deal would be struck.
The agreement between the province and the FTA took care of the big pieces, he explains, while the negotiations at the local level allowed the NFSB to work out some of the logistics specific to their service areas. “We have two different realities,” says Helm, of their urban schools in Chateauguay and those located in rural municipalities across the Valley.
The contracts signed with local carriers are for multiple years, and as such the details will remain confidential until they are ratified by the Council of Commissioners.
“We were very happy at the end of the day,” says Helm.
Negotiations ongoing at the CSSVT
Communications this week with parents of students attending schools with the Centre de services scolaire de la Vallée des Tisserands (CSSVT) were less positive.
In a letter sent to parents, the CSSVT announced that area transportation providers had rejected their initial offer.
“Since March, we have been trying to reach an agreement with our carriers. The CSSVT offered the entire budget negotiated by the government and the FTA for our service centre to the region’s carriers,” says the CSSVT administration. As a result, the service centre is not able to guarantee bus transportation will be available for the start of the school year.
While negotiations are ongoing at the local level, the CSSVT is encouraging parents to consider other options for transporting their children to and from their school. According to the letter, service centre staff and principals are working to organize additional support for families.
Schools will be reaching out to families over the coming days to suggest mitigating measures, while the CSSVT will provide regular updates on the evolving situation.
This article was updated Friday, August 26 at 1:30 p.m.