Parents of children who normally ride the school bus are being told they will have to register to get a seat for the upcoming school year.
Southwestern Ontario Student Transportation Services (STS), the busing consortium for the London District Catholic School Board and Thames Valley District School Board, announced on Thursday it is launching a mandatory registration process.
It is expected busing capacity in September will be reduced by approximately 60 per cent due to physical distancing guidelines laid out by the Ministry of Education amid COVID-19.
"As students return to school, every seat on the bus is vital. Some families will choose not to use bus service and by implementing a registration-based approach, STS can make sure that every available seat is maximized," STS officials said in a statement.
Starting Monday, parents of children who are eligible for bus service and are already registered for school in September will be emailed instructions to reserve a seat. Families who don't receive the email, but are eligible for transportation will be able to register through the STS website after July 29.
The registration process will close on August 14 with final transportation arrangements being posted in the "parent portal' of the STS website before the start of September.
Parents without internet access will be able to register their child for bus service through a special hotline that will be available next week.
This new system will help facilitate contact tracing should students be exposed to COVID-19, according to the bus service consortium.
The registration process does not apply to students who use specialized transportation.
"STS is committed to ongoing communications with families as we prepare for September and will post weekly news updates online," STS officials added.
Nearly 50,000 children who live in Middlesex, Elgin and Oxford counties and the city of London rely on STS for busing.
