Your child will no longer be automatically registered to take the bus this year due to COVID-19 protocols.
The Sudbury Student Services Consortium is in the process of coordinating all its bus services and executive director Renee Boucher says this year parents must sign up for the child to travel on the bus.
She says seats will be assigned and all students from Grade 4 to 12 must wear masks with younger riders encouraged to also do so.
She says every bus will also be sanitized twice a day, and drivers will wear a mask, but are unable to wear face shields while driving.
Boucher says parents are to call the consortium as soon as possible so buses can be assigned for the children in time for the first day of school, Tuesday, September 8th.
The Sudbury Student Services Consortium provides student transportation for the Rainbow District School Board, the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, the Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario, and the Conseil scolaire public du Grand Nord de l’Ontario. It also provides transportation services for the Huron Superior Catholic District School Board and five area First Nations.
Those buses run through much of northeastern Ontario, including Sudbury, Espanola, Manitoulin Island, along the north shore corridor and Elliot Lake.
More than 20,000 students on 397 buses are transported daily at a cost of over $28 million per year.
Boucher says this year, “Parents can opt in by giving us a phone call or sending us an email with their children’s information. We are also strongly encouraging parents to sign up for our online portal, where they will be able to manage all of their children’s information throughout the school year. The way it works is you create an account and add your children to the account. To sign up, you will need your child’s OEM number.”
Every child in the school system receives an Ontario Education Number that is assigned by the Ministry of Education to all elementary and secondary students across the province. For parents whose children are already attending school, you should be able to locate their OEM number on a former report card.
Children starting JK will not yet have an OEM number – the organization is contacting parents directly in this case. Once parents have created an account on the portal, they will be able to update their information as required throughout the school year.
To sign up or for more information, go to: www.businfo.ca.