CBE hikes busing fees for 2020-21 school year

School officials pointing to increases in funding cuts from the province

Parents of CBE students will have to dig considerably deeper — up to 120 per cent — to pay for school busing for the next academic year.

Critics say that increase is putting some educational options out of reach.

Families whose students live more than 2.4 kilometres from their designated school or attend a specialized school that could be reached by other means will pay $465 a year for busing, up from the current $365, the Calgary Board of Education announced on Friday.

And those who live between 1.6 and 2.4 kilometres from alternative schools not mandated by the government will shell out $800 compared to $365 the previous year, a whopping 120 per cent increase.

That comes on the heels of UCP government policy changes that led to the elimination last fall of a nearly $550 per year subsidy for Calgary Transit service used by high school students.

Those students’ families now pay $770 a year for that transportation compared to the previous amount of $220.

A woman who says her son attends a designated French immersion school expressed shock at the jump from $365 to $800 she’s being asked to pay.

“This is a huge burden on families ... The $800 is just ridiculous,” said Julia Brooks.

“The only outcomes from this will be overcrowded local schools, kids unable to access education opportunities offered by the public system, crowded and dangerous drop-off zones at schools, and kids disrupted further by more changes in their lives.”

Andrew Boyd said the $100 cost increase to bus his son from the new neighbourhood of Carrington to Cambrian Heights Elementary School comes at a difficult time, following his recent layoff as a welder.

“I’m not totally shocked by any of it but everything seems to be going up — school lunchroom fees, property taxes, you name it,” said Boyd.

“We’re in a pandemic and I lost my job — nobody’s making any money ... I can’t even focus on this right now.”

Those changes will impact 23,900 students who use yellow buses to travel to school.

The fee increases are due to provincial government budgeting and fee shortfalls that left a $7-million revenue gap for transportation, said Dany Breton, CBE superintendent of facilities and environmental services.

Busing will now be funded strictly from provincial funding and user fees won’t be subsidized by other school resources — an approach favoured in a recent survey of parents that yielded 10,000 responses, said Breton.

“This is an exceptionally difficult time with a double whammy of repercussions ... Parents want us to avoid drawing the (transportation) budget from schools and learning,” he said.

Parents concerned about the increased busing costs, particularly those in alternate programs such as those with language immersion, science or arts emphasis, can choose options with less expensive transportation fees, said Breton.

“They have a choice to pay for that higher level of service,” he said.

That 120 per cent increase for alternative school students is a watershed moment revealing the inequities of the school system, said Barb Silva of the group Support Our Students.

“Eight hundred dollars is a barrier,” she said, adding transportation funding from the province has long been unsustainable.

The hikes can be laid at the feet of the CBE, which has received an extra $20 million in funding for the next school year, $1.7 million of that for transportation, said Alberta Education spokesman Colin Aitchison.

“It should be noted that no other school division has increased fees this significantly,” he said.

Busing registration for the 202021 school year will begin May 19 by using the Powerschool Parent Portal Account.

That comes even though board officials said it’s still not clear if classroom instruction will resume in September after being suspended in March due to the COVID -19 pandemic.

I’m not totally shocked by any of it but everything seems to be going up — school lunchroom fees, property taxes, you name it.