Bill 1 may allow boards to charge for short trips
Public and Catholic boards won’t say how they’ll respond to new legislation
Families who live too close to their local school could still be on the hook for busing costs despite a government bill that aims to reduce school fees.
Although Bill 1: An Act to Reduce School Fees aims to bar school districts from charging parents for kids’ yellow bus rides to their designated schools or special education programs, the fine print in the provincial School Act says a district only has to bus a student if the family lives more than 2.4 kilometres from the school.
Education Minister David Eggen said in an email Tuesday if Bill 1 passes, school boards could still charge parents and guardians for shorter bus trips.
Neither Edmonton’s public nor Catholic school district will say yet whether they plan to charge for short trips.
“If it’s proclaimed, those are things we’re going to have to consider,” Edmonton public school board chairwoman Michelle Draper said Tuesday. “How does it affect our programs of choice, and what ability do we have to charge?”
Currently, Edmonton public will bus any student to their designated school who lives outside neighbourhood boundaries, said Chris Wright, the district’s managing director of infrastructure. There is no minimum distance limit.
The Catholic school district also wants more information.
“Our district will have to wait and see what the specific funding will be, along with all of the parameters, before we can give an accurate response,” spokeswoman Lori Nagy said in an email.
Public school students are paying between $240 and $470 a year for school buses or transit passes. Catholic students are paying between $320 and $500 a year.
No one will be turned away from a school program due to inability to pay fees for transportation or other costs, Draper said. Payment plans and fee waivers are available for low-income families.
A consortium of representatives from both school districts is plugging away at a plan to bus Catholic and public students together to improve efficiency and service. First proposed in 2013, a shared busing agreement between the boards has yet to be inked. A report said it could save $2.5 million to $2.7 million a year.
Sorting out a system that fits both districts’ policies, start and dismissal times, and legal obligations is “quite a big endeavour,” Draper said.
Half-empty buses contracted by both districts are taking students to schools that are just across the street from each other, she said.
“It makes sense for our kids to ride together. They play soccer together. Hockey. They go to Girl Guides. Whatever. It’s a logical way to save,” Draper said.
In a blog post last month, Edmonton Catholic Schools trustee Patricia Grell called on Catholic districts to share more services with public boards, particularly in the current era of belt-tightening.
Grell’s motion to collaborate more with all public agencies, such as hospitals, libraries and civic facilities, will be debated at the Catholic board’s March meeting.
It makes sense for our kids to ride together. They play soccer together. Hockey. They go to Girl Guides.