There's a call for more COVID-19 safety measures for school bus drivers as the Omicron variant continues to spread.
While the majority of students are currently learning from home, some bus drivers are still on the job as special needs classes are being carried out in-person.
Unifor Local 4268 president Debbie Montgomery says her drivers are face-to-face with students every day and deserve the same COVID protections as education workers.
She says educators have been promised medical grade N95 masks and better ventilation.
"Obviously there are many more concerns for drivers right now. They certainly were not comforted by the government's announcement because they seem to feel that they would maybe be left out of receiving proper PPE that will keep them safe."
Montgomery says many drivers are more susceptible to COVID-19 as they're older in age.
"The age demographic is really critical in this particular industry because the demographic is older people, many over 60. So they worry about the transmissibility, they worry about working in a confined space with children."
She says many of the precautions schools are using don't apply to buses.
"There's lots of things in classrooms about cohorting and so on, but on a school bus a little bit goes out the window because you're not just carrying kids from one class. You're carrying many kids from many different classes and in most cases, different schools as well."
Current rules state masks must be worn by all students riding a school bus and drivers must complete enhanced cleaning measures between routes.
Unifor represents 1,700 school bus drivers at several major bus companies across Ontario.
— with files from AM800's Patty Handysides