Elk Island public school board to revamp bus fees

The Elk Island public school board will completely revamp its bus fee schedule in an effort to simplify fees, make them more equitable for families and prevent cuts to classrooms.

“We’re no longer in the position financially to continue to provide services for free, and we certainly needed to find a method in which that is more equitable and fair. I believe we have accomplished that,” said board chairwoman Trina Boymook.

The new fee schedule won’t be finalized until after the provincial budget outlines the district’s funding envelope, but it will divide students into two tiers depending on whether they live more than 2.4 km from their school, and whether the school district receives provincial funding for them or not.

“We are entering a different financial reality in education,” said Boymook. Parents are not interested in seeing resources taken away from the classroom to go toward transportation, she said.

Transportation represents about six per cent of Elk Island’s roughly $200-million yearly budget, costing roughly $11 million. That’s about $1.5 million more than what the district receives from Alberta Education for busing for eligible students, based on the 2019-20 budget.

The changed fee structure aims to recoup $1.23 million of that, and the district aims to find efficiencies wherever possible, including with GPS tracking and special transfer stations, Boymook said.

The financial squeeze is coming mostly from added costs from the federal carbon tax on diesel fuel. Higher insurance costs and mandatory entry-level training for bus operators has added to the financial burden, according to the report.

Legislation that came into force in September lets school districts charge some students busing fees to recover costs.

The proposed fee schedule would take effect in September 2020 after it was approved at a meeting in Sherwood Park Thursday. It follows a similar decision by other school boards across the province, including Edmonton Public Schools.

Specific fees have not been finalized, but could include a new $104 annual fee for 5,083 students for whom the district receives transportation funding, according to a report to the board.

It might also reduce fees significantly for 1,641 students, by one-third or two-thirds. Those students, for whom the district does not receive provincial transportation funding, could be assessed at a rate of between $280 and $300 per year — a massive reduction from the nearly $900 fees some had to pay annually.

Those estimates are based on 2019-20 budget numbers. The division will finalize its 202021 transportation fees after the province announces the details of its 2020 budget.

“We really wanted something that was simplified, and also mindful of the financial hardships of families,” said Boymook.

Kids who cross or walk along a road with speeds limits of 60 km/h, or higher, without a sidewalk or standard traffic light protection will no longer get special “hazard” funding from the division, so a new fee of about $280 could apply to 239 students. The division doesn’t receive provincial funding for these students.

The family rate — which capped family fees at $945 — will be axed. That means 21 families of four or more students could see an increase of approximately one third, to $1,260, depending on how many children they have.