WINDSOR, ONT. -- Students in Junior Kindergarten to Grade 3 will now be required to wear a face mask when they ride the bus to school.
The Board of Directors of the Windsor-Essex Student Transportation Services (WESTS) approved a motion recently establishing a new protocol requiring all students, regardless of grade, to wear a mask when riding board approved transportations.
“We understand that it may take some time for students and their families to implement the new requirement,” said Gabrielle McMillan, general manager of WESTS. “Communication through our website and the boards’ social media platforms will inform students and their families of the new protocol.
Prior to the mandate, students in JK to Grade 3 had been exempt from face mask requirements on the bus.
A news release from WESTS said the new protocol goes into effect immediately but includes a transition period until full enforcement on Jan. 1, 2021.
“Beginning in the new year, children will not be able to board the bus unless they are wearing a face mask,” McMillan said. “However, we know that many of these students are already wearing masks and expect that they will begin complying with the new protocol sooner rather than later.”
The rule change was introduced by the Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board which approved a motion on Sept. 29 asking WESTS to change its protocols. The Greater Essex County School Board approved a similar motion on Nov. 17.
Conseil scolaire Viamonde already mandated all students to wear masks when riding school buses.
WESTS is a group formed by the school boards for student transportation. Its bus operators provide transportation services to the GECDSB, the WECDSB, Conseil scolaire Viamonde and Conseil scolaire Catholique Providence.
