The main reason why there are no bus drivers is simple – “the pay is grossly unfair,” says Marc Taillefer.
Taillefer retired from his teaching job in June and decided to become a school bus driver.
“Although I’m enjoying it, there’s a reason there is a shortage. To my surprise it’s a way more difficult job than I ever imagined. And the pay is slightly above minimum wage. Which quite frankly is a crime in my opinion,” he told The Nugget.
“I’m not going to quit because as I said, I enjoy it. I have kids that I taught who are on my route.”
He said some routes are “incredibly difficult” and for the money not worth it.
Taillefer said his reasoning for jumping into the driver’s seat was two-fold.
“I’m doing this because I’m a single dad of three boys who are mostly independent. I was afraid of being bored. Also, I had two students from Massey last year who missed many days because of not having a bus. I decided it would be a useful thing to do.”
He said most of the drivers depend on this income to survive and many are young mothers who do this because they can bring their kids to work.
Last week The Nugget interviewed Mel Dupuis who said she checks the school bus website every morning to see if her child will have a bus to get on and go to school.
She says she’s not alone with many kids unable to attend school because they don’t have a bus to get onto in the morning.
Dupuis said it’s not the weather that she’s concerned about rather whether there will be enough drivers to fill the bus routes.
Chuck Seguin, executive director for the Nipissing Parry Sound Student Transportation Services said they have had no more than six cancellations on any one day out a total of the 406 routes that they are responsible for.
He said they are experiencing a phenomenon like many other consortia in the province – the issue of school bus driver shortages.
Seguin said despite the pool of spare drivers has dwindled he’s confident with current recruiting efforts the vacant positions will be filled.
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