Some Brampton parents want their kids' bus driver shuffled to another route after they were left waiting at the side of the road for more than an hour for their children's school bus to drop them off.
In a NEWSTALK 1010 exclusive, Dharminder Beniwal tells Barb DiGiulio on the Night Side his kids aged 7 and 8 were dropped off an hour and 15 minutes later than usual last Wednesday because the driver twice paused the route and even steered the loaded bus back to school.
A letter from the administration at Mount Royal Public School shared with NEWSTALK 1010 explains the driver stopped the bus for 20 minutes, refusing to proceed until the child passengers quieted down. After 20 minutes the driver pulled away and returned to the school. After speaking with the school's vice principal the driver set back out on the route and stopped the bus again before continuing on.
A policy for Student Transportation of Peel Region (STOPR), the consortium that handles school transportation for students in Peel Region lays out that drivers "must always deliver student to their scheduled destination, even if they display unruly behaviour".
Beniwal says parents were told there would be a trainer accompanying the driver on the bus but he has not seen the promise materialize. NEWSTALK 1010 spoke with children on the route Wednesday morning who say "older kids" are behind the rowdiness and while rides have been noisy since last week the driver has been sticking to schedule.
In its letter to parents, Mount Royal's administration says it would like her removed from the route.
Dharminder Beniwal