The Rocky View Schools (RVS) board has made its final decision on transportation changes for the upcoming school year following months of deliberation and public consultation.
The board is set on three cost-saving measures estimated to save the board $1 million.
The changes include picking up urban students to fill rural buses ($150, 000), refraining from entering rural cul-de-sacs unless the length exceeds 800m and adjusting school bell times to accommodate more double runs in all urban communities, while maintaining early dismissal Fridays ($750, 000). The latter was initially quoted as $500, 000, though the board contends that by not eliminating early Friday dismissals, the board will still see an extra $250, 000 of savings.
Earlier this year the board announced a $1-million shortfall for the 2018-19 school year.
“The cost-saving measures to be employed reflect our communities’ preferences with one operational caveat,” said Board Chair Todd Brand. “We feel that by getting (the communities’) involvement we fully got to the best representation of how the public wants us to approach this deficit.”
However, the results of the Phase I survey indicated 57 per cent of RVS families said eliminating early Friday dismissals was in their top four choices.
“We believe we’ve made the best of a difficult situation,” Brand said.
The Board will debate any fee increases as defined by Policy 24: School Fees later this spring.
Urban school bell times will be directed by RVS administration, rather than at the school level, Brand added.
Bus drivers are paid a base rate for each morning and afternoon runs. By adding double runs the board anticipates getting more out of the bus drivers for the same cost rather than having more drivers on the road.
However, Trustee Fiona Gilbert, who represents Cochrane and area, did not vote in favour of the changes, citing that the double runs will not see the savings the board is anticipating partially because of the shared buses with the Calgary Catholic School Board.
“It is my understanding - particularly in the community of Cochrane and it could be in others as well - is that we’re reliant on the Catholic School system to change their bell times in order to make some of this happen. Our superintendent at the school does not have the authority to change the bell times of the Calgary Catholic school system,” Gilbert said at the meeting.
She added that there hasn’t been any indication of support from Cochrane families to change bell times.
“We have not, as far as I know unless there’s an update, received support within the community of Cochrane to adjust bell times to allow those double runs.”
Despite Gilbert’s worry, she said the changes won’t have a huge impact on Cochrane students as double runs have already been employed in many routes in town already.
Brand, along with five trustees voted in favour.
The cost-saving measures are the board’s last resort to contend with the transportation budget shortfall.
Taking from the instructional budget was vehemently shot down by parents and the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) during the first round of public consultations.
New legislation in place has been limiting revenue options for school divisions as well as adding costs.
Previously, the RVS board charged transportation fees to all students riding the bus, but last spring the provincial government implemented Bill 1, an act to eliminate school fees. This meant RVS went from charging close to 14,000 students bus fees down to a little more than 4,000 because students living farther than 2.4 km from their designate school were exempted from transportation fees under Bill 1.
Since 2008, the cost of transportation has inflated by 18 per cent while grants only increased by 1.27 per cent in the same time frame.
“Some of the levers, whether that be transportation fees, are now being limited or taken away from boards to be able to combat the increasing inflationary pressures with grants that didn’t increase,” said Greg Luterbach, RVS superintendent in an earlier interview. “Suddenly without that, now the game has changed.”
The carbon levy, which added $360,000 in energy costs for RVS to absorb, exacerbated the board’s financial troubles, according to the division.
Last spring, the board agreed to reduce the reserve funds to zero to limit the cost to parents but in doing so eliminated that as a future option.
