UCP cuts to cost Edmonton families hundreds in school bus fees

EDMONTON – Edmonton’s public school board is being forced to hike bus fees by hundreds of dollars after Jason Kenney and the UCP Government cut heavily into funding for education.

Under the leadership of Rachel Notley, the NDP introduced legislation and funding to remove fees for students travelling to their designated school by bus if the school is more than 2.4 kilometres from where they live. The Education Act, passed by the UCP after a recordlength Ndp-led filibuster in the spring sitting, ended restrictions on those fees.

Now, facing a UCP budget that doesn’t provide any money to eliminate school fees, Edmonton Public Schools is proposing to introduce a yellow bus fee of $260 annually for students in Kindergarten to Grade 6 and of $515 annually for students in grades seven to twelve. Fees for students riding Edmonton Transit Service buses to their designated will rise from $190 annually to $515 annually.

“Merry Christmas from Jason Kenney and his heartless UCP Government,” said Sarah Hoffman, NDP Official Opposition Education critic. “Now, many parents will choose between putting presents under the Christmas tree or putting their kids on the bus to get to school.

“This is shameful. The Premier and the Education Minister continue to claim they have properly funded education. This is not what properly funding education looks like. Parents just trying to get their kids to school will now pay hundreds of dollars to do so and it’s all because this Premier is scrambling to pay for his $4.7-billion corporate handout.”

The fees proposed by EPSB would take effect Feb. 1.