The Seine River School Division is struggling this year to meet the demand for transportation. It had to cancel four bus routes on Wednesday due to a shortage of drivers.

Letters were sent out this week to inform parents of the ongoing situation and to provide information on a couple of potential solutions to manage the transportation challenges.

Co-Superintendent Simon Laplante says it’s not unusual to have brief moments of driver shortages at the start of a school year. But he says it seems to be more difficult to get applicants to fill the vacancies in the transportation department.

Laplante notes the division also received four times as many requests this year for transportation. He says many of those requests are coming from new developments in the catchment area, and from families who are sending their children back to public school after a year of homeschooling.

The additional requests for transportation, coupled with the departure of some drivers, has created a difficult situation. Laplante explained some drivers retired while others took issue with the public health orders and decided to leave.

The division is offering free training and testing for bus drivers, something Laplante says they’ve done in the past. He is hoping to add four or five drivers to their department.

Seine River has around 55 drivers right now and Laplante is hoping to have a full complement in the very near future.

Until that happens, some parents will have to find other options to get their children to and from school.