Transferring funds from Rocky View Schools’ (RVS) instructional budget to transportation has been eliminated as an option to offset the division’s transportation shortfall after a parent survey largely sided against it.
“That’s why we’ve gone to the public with this, we want to get their feedback,” said Todd Brand, chair of RVS board of trustees.
In February, the board announced a $1-million shortfall for the 2018-2019 school year. To contend with the deficit, RVS posed multiple options in a survey directed at parents.
The results, released on March 12, showed 68 per cent of parents and guardians were not in favour of transferring money from the instructional budget.
The top three ranked cost saving options included refraining from entering rural cul-de-sacs unless the length exceeds 800 metres ($150,000), picking up urban students to fill rural buses ($150,000) and adjusting school bell times to accommodate more double runs in all urban communities ($500,000).
Parents are now being asked to participate in a second round of feedback, this time the options have been grouped in bundles of four.
The highest ranked bundle would see $1.5 million in savings, though would potentially impact rural students the most including longer bus ride times and longer walking distances from bus stops.
The board added new options to some bundles including increasing transportation fees by five to 10 per cent for families currently charged bus fees, which would save between $50,000 and $100,000.
The district is cognizant of the fact a fee increase question is tricky considering there are many parents who are now exempt from paying them.
He said when the board deliberates over the responses, it will be considering respondent’s situations – urban versus rural, paying bus fees or not.
“Anyone opposed to having a five or 10 per cent increase to the fees, we expect them to put that into their comments and not to vote for those particular packages,” Brand said. “The information we have is broken down in both rural and urban responses. .. this is a tool we’re using to gather as much data as we can.”
The board is projecting a nearly $1-million deficit in the transportation budget for the 2017-18 year based on $16,981,828 in operating expenses and $13,863,273 from Alberta education grant income. The projected shortfall for this year – after fees, monies collected from the Calgary Catholic School Board and miscellaneous income – is $971,747 to be covered by reserves.
Brand stressed that while the feedback from parents and guardians is valuable, there remains a misunderstanding of the deficit and the possible solutions to rectify it.
“One of the most challenging things we had was sort of a misunderstanding of how we got here. We tried to make it clear this shortfall is not in anyway by planning problems on behalf of RVS, it’s simply a matter of shortfalls,” Brand said. He reiterated fees have risen by 17.83 per cent in the last 10 years though the government has only increased transportation funding by 1.27 per cent.
The funds are further drained by the increased costs from the provincial carbon levy of $360,000 and the additional costs implemented from Bill 1, which no longer permits school districts to charge bus fees to families who live more than 2.4 km to their designated school.
“The legislative requirements surrounding An Act to Reduce School Fees are not well understood by the public; many parents and staff believe RVS should just reintroduce bus fees for all transportation families, when in fact it would be against the law,” Brand said.
The province stands behinds the merits of Bill 1.
“We’re making life more affordable for parents of students in the Rocky View School Division by keeping $3.7 million in their pockets. Across the province, we saved Alberta families more than $54 million this school year,” said Education Minister David Eggen.” We are looking for trustees at Rocky View to step up in support of this work and do their part to direct as much funding as possible to support students and their families.”
Parents can now vote second phase of feedback surveys on the RVS website.
Rocky View Schools’ Board of Trustees is reaching out to Holy Spirit transportation parents/guardians of the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) to provide feedback into RVS’s student transportation.
The survey will be open from March 12 to 30, 2018.
A representative from CSSD and RVS will be attending the Holy Spirit School Council meeting on March 21st at 6:30 p.m. in the Learning Commons. All are welcome to hear about the proposals.
