Province won't need more school buses after parents opt out of program

Education Minister Dominic Cardy says enough people have volunteered to drive or walk their own children to school, saving the province from having to get more buses and drivers to deal with demand of the COVID-19 busing plan.

In an interview Tuesday, Cardy said school districts have heard from 14,000 parents willing to find other arrangements for drop off and pickup, opting out of the yellow bus program. Cardy said this adds up to around 10 per cent of the school population.

"I cannot thank people enough for having stepped up on that one because that would have been a huge logistical challenge," he said. "That was the number we needed to be able to keep the fleet in the system going for pretty much as close to normal as we could."

The province previously directed all New Brunswick school districts to ask parents to opt out. This ask was to make space for physical distancing on buses as students are set to get back to school in September under a new COVID-19 mitigation plan.

Bus schedule not finalized

The fact the province won't have to hire new buses or drivers specifically to cope with COVID-19 does not mean the bus schedule will remain the same. Provincial spokesperson Danielle Elliott said the districts are in charge of bus routes.

Districts have previously said they are waiting on provincial guidelines so they can come up with appropriate schedules.

Some parents have previously said it is not possible to make that choice when it's not clear what the school schedule will be for their children. 

Cardy said he understands why those parents couldn't opt out.

"It was one of those chicken and egg things," he said. "There were parents [saying] 'Look I'd like to drive my kids but until I know what the drop off times are gonna be, I can't really commit.' So those folks are still going to use the bus.

"But there were enough people who decided that they were gonna make that commitment, that regardless of the other complications that we were throwing at them, that they were still going to take on the extra stress and hassle of making sure they got the kids to and from school safely each day."

Details to come

Parents have been asking for details of the back-to-school plan, so they can plan their lives as the start of school draws nearer.

The province has shared the general guidelines for kindergarten to Grade 12, including masks in common areas for the older students and small groups with no distancing or masks for younger students. Those could be kindergarten to Grade 8, but the exact grades have not been confirmed by the province.

The province has also said high school students physically attending only every other day.

However, no specifics on what the guidelines will mean for class schedules, curriculums or busing have been outlined by either the province nor the districts. 

Cardy said the province will be providing guidelines to the district, but each school will have to come up with its own plan, schedule and solutions using those directives.

"The province should set the standards and have the enforcement mechanisms. But then we should let the implementation be up to the local level. Because each school is different."

All four anglophone school districts have previously said they are await directives from the province to make their own plans public.

Cardy has news conferences scheduled for Tuesdays and Thursdays the remainder of this month. 

In the interview he said he will be providing an overview of the more fleshed-out back-to-school plan starting on Thursday, then will be discussing specific topics such as masks, busing and school plan directives in the coming conferences.

Anglophone South Superintendent Zoё Watson previously said students on the bus will have to follow physical distancing, including one child per seat for K-5 (except kids from the same household), and masks when physical distancing is not possible for older students.

Superintendents from Anglophone East and West have previously said parents who opt out may be able to opt back in if needed.

New health directives not new for school plan

On Tuesday, Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell said public places will be able to reduce physical distancing requirements to one metre from two metres, provided people wear masks.

Cardy said for high school students, one-meter physical distancing has always been the plan, but he's not requiring students to wear masks in class - only in hallways, near lockers, and entrances and exits.

This is "based on the idea that if you have active adult supervision that one meter is sufficient," he said.

"We're saying if you're moving in between classes to use masks whenever possible, asking the kids to always carry a mask with them, wear one if they feel comfortable and certainly no prohibition on them.