School boards studying changing bell times as bus costs expected to rise by 'millions'

Hamilton's school boards are considering changing bell times in anticipation of bus company contract renewals that are expected to raise the boards' transportation budgets by "many millions of dollars" in the next few years.

A bell times study is currently underway with the goals of getting students to class on time, combating an unsolved bus driver shortage and finding ways to afford the anticipated multi-million dollar price increase.

"We have to for sure come up with some ways to reduce costs, there's no way around that," said Patrick Daly, chair for Hamilton's Catholic board.

Any change in bell times can mean significant upheaval for parents and caregivers managing pick-ups or drop-offs and arranging before and after school care. With that in mind, both boards are promising thorough consultation on proposed changes.

"We'll be very thoughtful in terms of a communication plan and consultation before anything happens," said Daly.

Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board chair Alex Johnstone said staff have watched recent contract renewals for neighbouring school boards result in a jump in costs of about 20 per cent.

She couldn't provide an exact dollar figure for how that would translate to the Hamilton, but said it's clear the new contracts "will increase our budget line by several million."

Daly echoed her rough estimate, describing the predicted increase as for the 2021-2022 school year as "many millions of dollars."

Arriving late hurts students

High-level discussions about strategies to cut costs are underway, with the bell times study cited as one possible solution.

Johnstone said the contract increases can be attributed to a rise in minimum wage, inflation and other market costs.

She added the provincial government did recently announce a four per cent increase in school board transportation budget lines, but that still "doesn't come close to the 20 per cent we are anticipating."

Staring down that much larger increase, and with few options left, the local boards —which share a joint transportation consortium that handles bus routes in Hamilton — have decided to take action on their own.

"We're not in a position any longer where we can wait for the ministry to react," Johnstone explained.

Drivers could do 2 or even 3 routes each day

A part of the anticipated cost increase is addressing a driver shortage that's dragged on for years, affecting hundreds of students.

Currently that shortage means about 200 public school students in the city arrive anywhere from five to 60 minutes late to school each day, according to Johnstone.

"We need to make sure they're arriving to school on time," she added. "The morning is the most crucial time of day for learning. When you have disruptions that has an impact on student learning and achievement."

We have to for sure come up with some ways to reduce costs, there's no way around that.- Pat Daly, Hamilton-Wentworth Catholic District School Board

The possibility of changing bell times is still being studied, so neither chair could provide much detail about what any changes would look like.

Johnstone said the study is about finding ways to space out the time buses have to travel between schools so drivers who currently do one or two routes each day could fit in as may as three.

"If we can reduce the number of buses on the road that would help with the bus driver shortage as well," noted Daly, adding, "In no way would we ever jeopardize anything in regards to student safety. This is looking at ways to reduce costs wisely."

Parent consultation will be part of process

Both board representatives said the extensive consultation with staff, students and parents will happen before any of the results from the study are put in place.

With just a few years before transportation costs are expected to spike, there isn't any time to waste.

"We're hopeful we can start to roll something out, at least a plan for consultation, beginning of next school year," Daly explained.