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The wheels on Renfrew County buses will soon be going round and round once more.
A joint statement released Monday evening said an agreement in principle has been reached between school bus companies, the transportation consortium, and the two local school boards. Students throughout the region had gone without bus service for weeks.
Details of the agreement were not disclosed, with the statement explaining the agreements will be finalized during the next week, but the announcement said the parties had come to “multi-year agreements that at minimum will run until the end of the 2028-2029 school year.”
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The statement said a tentative start date for transportation services will be shared by the bus companies by Friday, and start dates will be confirmed early next week.
The school year started without bus service for more than 10,000 students in Renfrew County due to a breakdown in contract negotiations for bus drivers.
Key to the issue was wage increases. As of last week, representatives for the school bus companies were maintaining that a multi-year contract starting with a 20 per cent increase in year one with a total increase of 35 per cent over five years is the only offer they would accept, as reported by the Pembroke Observer.
“Everyone involved in these discussions understands how difficult the first few weeks of school have been for families, students, and the community,” Monday’s statement read. “We want to express our collective thanks and appreciation for your patience and understanding during this difficult time.”
With files from the Pembroke Observer
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