Insufficient Measures to Ensure School Transportation SafetyAt the end of June, the Ministry of Education announced new measures regarding the transportation of students on school buses for the new school year, the main feature being the inadequacy of the physical distancing between students. The number of students who can sit on the same bench is reduced from three to two, bringing the maximum number of students that can travel on a school bus to 48 instead of 72. The other measures are: "Students should, as much as possible, remain together on the same bench each day; "Wearing of face coverings inside the vehicle is voluntary for students in pre-school up to grade 4 and mandatory for those in grade 5 through to the end of high school; "Antiseptic hand gel is made available to students as they enter the bus; "Complete cleaning of the bus is performed daily; "The basic disinfection of the areas most frequently touched by students (e.g., seat backs and ramps) is carried out for vehicles that are used for more than one transportation route in the morning or at the end of the day."
The Federation of the Public Services' Employees (FEESP-CSN), which represents more than 3,000 school vehicle drivers in Quebec, also pointed out that the Minister of Education's bubble-classroom concept will not be respected on buses. In a press release, the organization said, "It's as if the school service centres wanted to give priority to transporting as many students as possible by cutting corners for safety. We would have liked the [Labour Standards, Pay Equity and Workplace Health and Safety Board] to consult with us before approving changes in interpretation that do not represent the best choices in these circumstances. These types of decisions are normally made following joint consultation ... If the school system wants to maximize the number of students on school buses, it must be done safely, that is, by installing physical barriers in all school vehicles." Another consequence of these measures is that thousands of students will not have access to school transportation. There is a need for new buses and the hiring of drivers, in addition to providing real physical distancing, to relieve the burden on families to transport their children to school. (Quotations translated from original French by Workers' Forum)
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School bus drivers must wear a mask and face shield as they will not be
separated from their young passengers by two metres. Among the concerns
that workers and their organizations shared were the fogging of glasses
and the reflections caused by face shields, both of which pose an obstacle
to safe driving. The government did not require the addition of a
Plexiglas shield between drivers and students, and left this as a matter
of "a choice" by the various school bus companies. The companies have
refused to add this barrier because the government has not committed to
paying for it.