At a special school board meeting this morning (August 24), Rocky View Trustees revised their 2017/2018 transportation fees.

At a school board meeting on May 4, the board decided to raise transportation fees for the upcoming year to $325 per student, with a maximum of $650 per family. The increase was necessary to offset potential deficits brought about by both Bill 1, which will not allow school boards to charge transportation fees for students that live more than 2.4 kilometers away from their designated school, and a lack of transportation funding over the last 10 years compared to increasing costs.

The increase was subject to approval from the Minister of Education, and on August 11, RVS received notice that the fee increase would not be improved. The Minister capped Rocky View's increase at $280 per student, with a family maximum of $560.

In a press release, the school board explained that while they realize the lower increase will be welcome news to parents, it does cause some problems for the division, who will now face a transportation deficit of almost $800,000.

Most of that deficit can be covered with the remainder of Rocky View's transportation reserve, meaning the fund will be emptied. The remainder, amounting to $67,454 can also be covered by general operating reserves. Associate Superintendent Darrell Couture said they will need to address the issue of an empty transportation reserve over the next few months. 

Couture also noted that if the government fails to adequately fund transportation, the school division will need to identify further or change service levels for the 2018/2019 school year.

The Board of Trustee's voted unanimously to only raise bus fees to $280, although they did note their concerns. Almost each of the four trustees present for the decision said they did not have any alternative. Ward 1 Trustee Norma Lang and Ward 3 Trustee Sylvia Eggerer worried that the increase would create a two-tier system, especially for students in programs of choice like French Immersion, which they viewed as an inadvertent consequence of the government's decision. Ward 3 Trustee Todd Brand said he would support the decision because there was no other alternative, reiterating that all Rocky View students need to be bused. He worried that the decision and deficit would cause problems for the next board coming in after the fall's election. Board Chair and Ward 5 Trustee Colleen Munro was especially frustrated by the Minister's decision, expressing her opinion that the power of trustees to make decisions for their communities has been slowly stripped away by both the current and previous governments.

Rocky View will continue to cap transportation fees at $560 per family and waive fees for families with financial needs. Anyone that has already paid the $325 fee will be refunded $45 per student in October.

 

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