KITCHENER -- Parents who are sending their child to school in September, also have to decide whether to opt in – or out - of bus rides.

Kaleigh Bradford says she’s already decided to put her son on a school bus this fall.

“I’m not as concerned cause the bus load will be smaller, because he will be on a special needs bus,” she says.

But that’s not the case for students at the elementary level in Waterloo Region.

The number of kids on board will remain the same as they were pre-pandemic.

“At the elementary level, there’s not a lot of change other than the driver will be wearing a mask and a visor,” says Benoit Bourgeault, from Student Transportation Services of Waterloo Region. “Students are required to wear a mask, depending where they are and which board.”

That means that there will up to 70 elementary students on board on the bus, and they’ll sit three per seat if they’re in Grade 6 or younger. Grade 7 and Grade 8 students, meanwhile, will sit two to a seat. Siblings will be asked to sit together.

For more on the transportation service's plan, read CTV Kitchener's story here.

School bus drivers in Waterloo Region are not part of a union, but in the Greater Toronto Area, the union representing bus drivers says safety concerns have been brought up across the province.

“Those big yellow vehicles going down the road carry the equivalent of three classrooms,” says Debbie Montgomery, the president for Unifor Local 268. “Kids are truly packed in there. A crammed bus is not a joke.”

School bus officials say protocols have been recommended and approved by public health. They also add that high-touch areas will be wiped down between each route.

“The handrails, the top of seats, and once a day, the entire bus will be sanitized,” says Bourgeault.

Parents who decide to drive their children to school are asked to park a couple of blocks away from the property, and then walk the rest of the way.

School bus capacity isn’t an issue for high school students. A decision has already been made to reduce the number of students on board by half.