How officials tried to contain fallout after a Halifax school bus went missing for 4 hours [Video]

As the French school board grappled with how to reassure angry parents after a Halifax school bus dropped their children off more than 4½ hours late one day without explanation, the board’s executive director discussed holding a meet-and-greet where affected students would be given a treat bag from the bus company, while parents could voice their concerns.

“We obviously don’t want it to turn into a rant for the angry parents, but hopefully it would be seen as a positive gesture,” wrote Michel Collette in an email to other officials from Conseil scolaire acadien provincial and Transco, the bus company.

“Alternatively, we let the incident fade, and we just try to surpass parents’ expectations.”

No meeting was ever held, despite calls from at least two school board members to hold one.

One of those members, Marc Pinet, suggested holding meetings at “almost all [French-language] schools. There are [busing] problems everywhere.”

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