The Board of Trustees for Rocky View Schools had a tough decision to make yesterday (May 4).

With tight timelines, the board felt a decision needed to be made regarding student transportation fees, in anticipation that Bill 1 will be approved before Legislative Assembly's Spring Session ending May 31.

Colleen Munro, Chair of the Board of Trustees, says the board has really struggled with the decision and it took some time.

" A decision of this magnitude that we know is going to affect a number of our constituents is not something we take lightly, that is why it took us sometime to process it."

 Administration was able to provide some clarity yesterday, shares Munro, by breaking down the actual number of students that will be affected by Bill 1.

"The number of students that are in that 2.4 km or greater walk limit and designated school is about 65% of the students we transport. The rest are either going to a non designated school or live under the 2.4 kilometres but we are still transporting them for various reasons, so it helped to understand that even though we are getting replacement revenue for those students we aren't getting a 100% replacement revenue and therefore we still have a deficit in the transportation budget and we have fewer riders to be able to spread that deficit over and that is where the increase of fees had to come in." 

While Munro wishes they had more time to be creative and think of other ways to cover the shortfall, with 10,000 RVS students plus Calgary Catholic students being transported they just couldn't come up with another solution, at this juncture. Muno added that a follow on motion was made by Trustee Lang to try and explore ways to get government help for transportation in general. "By working with some of our communities doing a pilot study specifically working with some of our municipalities to see what we might be able to do because we need to get more creative about this and sometimes getting creative means getting out of our own sandbox and asking for help outside."

To offset costs RVS will be depleting the transportation reserves down to 0 or less. With carbon tax levies, transportation operating costs, and an underfunded portfolio, RVS will continue to push the Ministry to review the funding framework which Munro says is outdated and unfair, but transportation is only one piece of that.

Munro, shares RVS will continue to support fee waivers for families in need. "For families that qualify for a GST rebate can ask for a waiver on their transportation fees going forward for next year." Fees for families who fall outside of the 2.4 km eligibility will see fees increase by 30%, to determine if you fall in or out of the boundary, Munro suggests calling the Transportation department.

  • 403-945-4103  for Springbank, Bragg Creek, Crossfield, Kathyrn and Beiseker areas
  • 403-945-4101  for Chestermere, Langdon and Indus areas
  • 403-945-4102  for Airdrie and area
  • 403-945-4104  for Cochrane, Bearspaw and Westbrook area

 

  Applicable Students Family Maximum
a) Transportation fee for resident students living less than 2.4 kilometres (as determined by Government of Alberta approved software) from their designated school $325 $650
b) Transportation fee for resident students transported to a school other than their designated school $325 $650
c) Transportation fee for students shuttled between Springbank Middle School and Springbank High School $325 N/A
d) Transportation fee for non-resident students accessing a school bus within the boundary of Rocky View Schools and attending either Beiseker, Kathyrn, Westbrook, Indus, Crossfield Elementary or W.G. Murdoch schools $325 $650
e) Transportation fee for non-resident students excepting those students outlined in point (e) above: i) Non-resident students accessing a school bus within RVS boundary ii) Non-resident students accessing a school bus outside RVS boundary i) $450 ii) $1,000 N/A

 

Schools of choice, chosen for the additional programming offered, are not considered to be designated schools. As such French Immersion or other language or cultural immersion, sports academies, faith based, art, science, traditional learning or International Baccalaureate programs/schools are not considered by Alberta Education to be designated schools. 

 

 

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