Letter to Parents: Bus Transportation upon Return to School

Dear Parent/Guardian,

In order to reduce the risk of spreading the COVID-19 virus and to allow for a safe and healthy return to school for all of our students, you will find listed below guidelines that must be respected.  

If your child is eligible for transportation but will not be taking the bus, we would appreciate if you could notify us by  email at transport@wqsb.qc.ca by indicating the complete name of your child and school.   

Guidelines set by the Ministry and CNESST

• A maximum of two students can sit in the same seat
• Priority will be given to children from the same family
• Prioritize seating siblings together
• Students will be assigned a seat for morning and afternoon routes
• It is mandatory that all grade 5 to grade 11 students wear a mask on the bus
• Parents/Guardians are responsible to provide their child with a mask
• Wearing a mask for students in preschool to grade 4 is strongly recommended
• Drivers will wear a mask and safety glasses or a face shield
• Students should wash their hands or use hand-sanitizer prior to boarding the bus
• Vehicles will be fully cleaned and disinfected every day
• All frequently touched surfaces will be disinfected by drivers between each run
• Parents/Guardians must assess their child’s health before sending them on the bus or dropping them off at school. 
• Students that are showing COVID-19 symptoms, waiting for test results or that have received a confinement order cannot board a vehicle nor attend school.

Guidelines Set by the School Board:

• If a child develops symptoms while at school, he/she will not be permitted to return home on a school bus and must be picked-up by a parent/guardian.
• We are expecting an increasing number of parents dropping off and picking up their child(ren).  Please be patient and respectful at the parent drop off zone.  If the zone is full, please park your vehicle away in an authorized parking zone.
• Students not respecting the seating plan or not wearing a mask will be reported to the school administration and may lose their bus privileges.
• Parents/guardians and students are expected to do their best to maintain adequate physical distance between each other at the bus stop.  A distance of 2m between families is suggested.   It is important that students arrive at their designated stop at least 5 minutes before the posted stop time.
• Once the bus arrives, students should not crowd the front door.  Instead, students must line up while maintaining a 2m physical distance between them, where possible.  No more than one student should be on the stairs at a time. 

If you moved over the summer, it is important to inform your school as soon as possible. Please note that considering the current situation with the pandemic and the limited seat capacity on buses, bus accommodations will not be granted.  All new requests or changes may take a minimum of 10 business days to review and transportation may not be guarantied.  The 2020-2021 bus information and schedule will be posted on the Parent Portal on August 25^th.  Rest assured that the Transportation Department is actively working to ensure the health and safety of all students.

Thank you for your collaboration and understanding.

Manon Dusablon
Assistant Director of Buildings & Transportation

Pascal Proulx
Director of Buildings, Technology and Transportation