3 school bus drivers quit after 'verbal abuse' from parents

The Ottawa Student Transportation Authority (OSTA) is asking for patience after three school bus drivers quit their jobs because of harassment from frustrated parents.

Vicky Kyriaco, chief administrative officer and general manager with OSTA, said in an interview Tuesday that drivers have been dealing with parents "yelling at them, screaming at them, calling them names" on delayed routes.

"It's just general aggressive and … inappropriate behaviour," Kyriaco said. She didn't want to get into the specifics of what happened to protect the privacy of the drivers.

OSTA has long been dealing with a shortage of bus drivers. 

On Monday, it posted on social media to warn parents that drivers are learning their routes and may be delayed at times, especially early in the school year.

"We have all these new drivers, they're learning their routes, they're learning the kids … I think that if parents feel this level of frustration and they want to get it off their chest, try not to do it to the bus driver," Kyriaco said.

"The bus driver really doesn't have any influence on the driver shortage, on routes, on delays in particular. They're just doing their best."

Kyriaco said each driver who quits could affect bus service for up to 200 students, meaning transportation could be disrupted for about 600 students.

'Super grateful to have a bus route'

Katie Weisflock said she got an email from OSTA last week asking parents and guardians to be patient with new bus drivers learning their routes.

When she got another email Monday letting her know three bus drivers had quit because of harassment they faced, she decided to get a coffee shop gift card for the driver on her daughter's route.

Later that same day, she received a third email letting her know her daughter's route was cancelled until further notice.

"We were super grateful to have a bus route, but I guess at the same time we didn't really know that we needed to be grateful just because we didn't know that there was such a shortage [of drivers]," Weisflock said in an interview Tuesday.

The driver shortage was causing headaches before school had even started for the year, with hundreds of routes cancelled just before classes began.

Kyriaco said while she sympathizes with parents frustrated by delays and interruptions to their routines, she wants parents to leave drivers alone.

Weisflock said she feels lucky that she and her husband have some flexibility when it comes to their work schedules, since they need to get their daughter to and from junior kindergarten every day.

She said she doesn't understand why parents would direct their frustration at school bus drivers to begin with.

"I can't imagine driving around with that many kids — I think that it's probably a very taxing job."

Bus driver shortage not new

Kyriaco said OSTA has been dealing with a bus driver shortage for years, and that the organization has been using "a variety of strategies" to try to attract and retain drivers.

Options such as rerouting certain buses, or using OC Transpo, vans or coach buses are being looked at, she added, but it's a complex situation.

"This is going to be a long and detailed process. It takes a lot of communication," she said.

"This is a system-wide issue and as soon as we start pulling on one strand of the web, if you will, it can affect several other strands."

Kyriaco said it could take "a number of weeks, perhaps even months" before parents hear solutions for their particular area.

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