OSTA provides transportation to 72,000 students with the Ottawa Catholic and public school boards with a fleet of 499 yellow school buses and 54 wheelchair buses. OSTA also uses between 600 and 700 vans to move 5,000 students, of which 3,500 have disability or mobility challenges.
The van drives both kids to school each morning and at lunch drives Jack to his government-funded afternoon therapy session. Monaghan’s husband picks him up for the drive home. In the van, Jack wears a harness to keep him safely seated. The province used to divvy out money based on enrolment and student needs. The new method lumps it all under the cost of operating a school bus. Vans aren’t included. Vans don’t get extra money for rising fuel costs and van drivers aren’t eligible for any of the $2,000 provincial Driver Retention Policy funding.Article content
Other regions use vans, but none as much as Ottawa. But Kyriaco said vans are the best, most efficient and safest way to transport some students, particularly students with high needs. “The funding framework establishes a needs-based criteria, based on the distance to schools, to encourage consistency and ensure improved access to student transportation services across Ontario,” Grace Lee, a spokesperson for Lecce, said in an email. “It’s important to note the province is providing transition supports, ensuring no school board receives less funding as a result of the new model.”