All students to pay for busing

All students in the Central Okanagan school district who require busing will pay an annual user fee of $200, effective Sept. 1.

In a unanimous vote of trustees, each student will pay the same fee, eliminating the previous two-tier system where some riders — based on distance — rode for free, while others paid $250 annually.

“You have a rider who may live in Glenmore, where there’s sidewalks, but a student who lives on Drought Hill in Peachland on the side of a mountain, that might only be two kilometres to walk and not four, he has to get to school and it’s more challenging,” chairwoman Moyra Baxter said following the meeting.

The board anticipates collecting $935,000 from the fee. Combined with $600,000 in funding from the provincial government, it will create an anticipated surplus of $190,000.

“The government at the time said ‘this is the way it is’ if you want the funding,” Baxter said. "”This new government has said, ‘we can be Áexible.’”

There’s a sliding scale for families with more than one child, with the second child being $150. As well, families in need may claim hardship by speaking privately with the school principal.

Baxter anticipates the board will use surplus money to offer more routes. One void at present is for French immersion students who reside in West Kelowna. Other requests have come from Dilworth, Peachland and situations where students are required to cross a highway. With the recent reconÀguration of student grades in West Kelowna, busing between schools may be required for speciÀc activities and programs.

Paid busing was introduced in 2010. Superintendent Kevin Kaardal said “most boards” in B.C. charge a fee for the service while two are no longer offering busing.The Okanagan Skaha school district still provides free busing.