January 15th, 2025
January 15th, 2025
QUEENS PARK – Guy Bourgouin, NDP Critic for Francophone Affairs and MPP Chandra Pasma, NDP Critic for Education are calling on the Ministry of Education to adequately fund school transportation for Francophone school districts:
“While the Ford government’s chronic underfunding is undermining education across the province, the minister needs to understand that Francophone students and school boards have specific needs compared to their Anglophone counterparts,” said Bourgouin. “The right to be educated in Ontario’s official minority language is at risk when students can’t get to Francophone schools.”
During a mediation session last week, the Ministry of Education failed to reach an agreement with Francophone school boards in Ontario to address Ford’s cuts to school transportation funding. Francophone school boards have to transport fewer students across greater distances, so they rely more on minivans than anglophone boards. The funding formula that went into effect in 2023-2024 failed to fund minivans and additional funding provided this year still doesn’t cover the actual costs. Without reliable school transportation and reasonable bus rides, francophone students may be forced to attend a local English language school instead.
MPP Chandra Pasma, NDP Education Critic has also long advocated for changes to the school transportation funding formula to address transportation shortages, stating,
"The Minister of Education knows perfectly well that when a school board runs a deficit, they have to take that money from classroom support funds. When a French-language school board is forced to run a transportation deficit, it means taking teachers, textbooks and paper away from francophone students across Ontario.”
“Francophone school boards have been dealing with transportation related deficits for months,” Bourgouin added. “We’re calling on the government to come to the table and ensure francophone school boards can continue providing this essential service.”