To help offset what it identified as a $10-million provincial funding shortfall for the 2019-20 school year, Rocky View Schools (RVS) is introducing additional transportation fees for bussed-in students who live more than 2.4 kilometres from their designated school.
The fee will cost $308 per student for the first two children in a family and $154 for each additional child.
RVS Board of Trustees Chair Fiona Gilbert said the fee is necessary to generate the $1.4 million the district used to receive through the now-cancelled Transportation Fee Reduction Grant.
“It makes sense at that point, because we don’t have reserves in our transportation portfolio that we could rely on,” she said.
“Parents told us during our transportation engagement a couple of years ago that they do not want us to use instructional dollars to fund transportation. So, the choices were to implement a fee or reduce services.”
The United Conservative Party tabled its first provincial budget Oct. 24, outlining a 2.8 per cent spending reduction and a freeze on education funding.
“The government is challenging us to find efficiencies,” Gilbert said. “I would argue we’re already pretty efficient – the teachers and staff are very good at getting as much out of a dollar as they possibly can.
“Really, what we need to do now is have a conversation about priorities…in providing the best education possible for students. And then, taking those priorities and seeing how we can put a budget together to meet the needs and desires of our community.”
Gilbert added the transportation fee will be in place this school year, though the deadline for when it has to be paid is still to be determined. She added the district will contact families in the next few weeks with additional details.
“It’s not as though a child is going to show up on Monday morning and we’re going to say, ‘You can’t ride the bus,’” Gilbert said. “It’s not like that. But the expectation is that the fee is in place for this year, and parents will be asked to pay that this year."
Along with the transportation fee, RVS will draw on more than $5 million from its reserve fund, while reducing spending by $1.5 million at the education centre (the district’s central offices, in Airdrie) to help offset the shortfall. The district is also reducing spending by $1.7 million in school budgets.
Gilbert said staffing cuts are not anticipated this school year.
“From our board’s perspective, we’re looking to minimize the impact on our students, because that is our main budget priority,” she said. “We’re doing our best with what we have at this time and we look forward to engaging with our community to figure out what we’ll do next year.”
Gilbert said RVS’ revised budget will be tabled Nov. 28, and sent to the province for consideration.
