Provincial cuts mean that it could soon cost St. Albert parents $90 more to send a child to public school by bus this fall.
St. Albert Public Schools trustees voted 3-0 in favour of their new 2015/2016 student transportation fee schedule Wednesday. Trustees Cheryl Dumont and Sheri Wright were absent.
The new schedule features some of the biggest hikes to bus fees the board has seen in 20 years, and affects everyone from kindergarten to Grade 12.
Parents who sign their students up for busing before the June 1 deadline can expect to pay $20 to $40 more per student, the schedule shows.
Miss the deadline, and you'll have to pay a lot more.
Students who live more than 2.4 kilometres from school – and thus qualify for provincial transportation grants – will have to pay $70 more than they did last year to get a seat on the bus this fall if they sign up after June 1, the schedule shows – about $190 total. Those who live within 2.4 kilometres will need to shell out $90 more after June 1 – $340 or $350 total, depending on how close they live to the school.
The June 1 rate-change is being brought in to encourage more parents to sign up early so board administration can better plan bus routes, said Michael Brenneis, assistant superintendent of finance for the public board.
"We're not thinking a whole lot of people are going to be in that after June 1 category."
The higher rates were caused by a combination of higher contract costs and the province's decision to cut transportation grants to schools by 1.39 per cent, Brenneis told the board – a cut of about $24,000.
Board staff will do an efficiency review of the bus routes next year to reduce costs, Brenneis said. Still, unless the province provides more transportation cash, he expects to have to raise fees again next year.
Elmer S. Gish parent Sarah Lindgren, who has two children who take the school bus, decried the changes when told of them in an interview.
"I know families that have three to four kids on the bus," she said, and these changes mean $40 more per kid for some of them.
"How many people are going to look at that and go, 'I can't afford that; I'm going to drive my kids to school?'"
These fees will be a real hardship for many families and amount to a tax on parents, Lindgren said – one that will discourage transit use.
"It's incredibly frustrating."
Budget squeeze
Compounding the transportation cut is the province's decision to not provide funding for any growth in enrolment, the board heard.
Schools so far predict that they'll have 122 more Grade 1 to 9 students by this fall that won't be funded by the province, Brenneis said in an interview – a shortfall of about $800,000.
While the board has the reserves to cover that, past years suggest that it can expect an additional 200 more students to sign up between now and this fall. That would create another $1.3 million gap that the board could not cover with reserves.
"You can't add … 322 students and make up for that loss of revenue without feeling an impact," Brenneis told the board.
The new Lois E. Hole Elementary school will mean more students and electricity costs that the province won't cover if this freeze on new student spending continues, superintendent Barry Wowk told the board.
"We can only hope and hope and hope this is a one-year measure or shorter."
Trustee Gerry Martins said the province was taking the wrong approach by not funding new growth in enrolment.
"Our province is no longer open to new students," he said.
"That means we're also closed to their parents, I suppose."
Ellen Snaith, head of the public board's teachers' union, said these cuts jeopardized children's education.
"It's almost like we're being held to task for the good job we're doing."
Parents will get letters explaining the new bus fees in the coming weeks.
The Greater St. Albert Catholic and Sturgeon School Division boards will set their transportation fees later this month.
