Rocky View Schools has announced it will be increasing bus fees between five per cent and 19 per cent to respond to rising costs.
At the Board of Trustees’ April 4, 2019, public meeting, trustees approved several changes to Administrative Procedure 5107: Student Transportation Fees, based on the recommendations of its Transportation Committee.
Beginning the 2019/20 school year, families accessing RVS’ transportation services will see:
• A five per cent increase to fees for resident students who reside within 2.4 km of their school and/or attend a program of choice, raising fees per student from $294 to $308;
• A new fee of $157 for resident students requiring an additional stop location in the a.m., p.m.or both;
• A 19 per cent increase for non-resident students accessing a school bus inside RVS’ boundaries, raising fees per student from $472 to $625;
• A 19 per cent increase for non-resident students accessing a school bus outside RVS’ boundaries, raising fees per student from $1050 to $1,250;
• Removal of the family maximum, with the first two children in a family paying $308 each and all additional children paying $154 each.
The continued escalation of fuel costs, operator costs and other inflationary costs, along with continued growth pressures have left our transportation budget projected to be in the red once again,” said RVS Board Chair Todd Brand
He elaborated that operator costs refer to the costs of contracting bus companies to pick up and drop off students.
One of the largest contributing factors to increased costs in this area is an increase in the number of buses required to keep up with rising student numbers.
The cost of enhanced driver’s licence testing for bus drivers is a smaller contributing factor.
Brand dismissed the notion that the carbon tax factored into the most recent fee hikes.
“We compensated for that with our last round of cuts,” said Brand.
The biggest issue is the continued short fall for transpotation funding from the government and Brand said if that trend continues the board might have no choice but to continue cutting service.
“If our costs continue to go up and we don’t see a parallel in grants then we will continue to cut,” said Brand.
“We’re running out of things to cut.”
Changes to transportation will begin in September 2019.
Families that rely on RVS transportation will be notified of the board’s decision by June 30.
The board’s decision was based on a 10-week public transportation consultation held during the 2017/18 school year to find $1 million in savings.
“Since 2008, transportation grant revenues have increased by only 1.27 perc ent, while inflation has risen by 18.95 per cent.
“In past years, the Board worked hard to minimize the cost to parents by making efficiencies in its operations and depleting its $1.8 million transportation reserves to zero,” RVS stated in a news release
