Parents whose students rely on a bus to get to and from school in the Central Okanagan School District may be facing a 100 per cent increase in busing fees.
“There is some concern regarding the increase, obviously fee increases are always going to be a controversial subject,” said Ryan Stierman, secretary-treasurer with Central Okanagan Public Schools.
The school board’s transportation task force is recommending annual fees for busing double from $225 per student to $450.
The additional revenue will also allow the district to purchase new buses to meet the growing needs.
“It also provides us funding in case we need to buy buses because right now the ministry funds replacement buses. So if we actually do not have sufficient buses to serve those five routes, we are going to have to buy them at about $120,000 apiece,” Stierman said.
According to the district, the current fees along with provincial funding only amounts to $1.5 million, far short of the $4.6 million needed in yearly operating costs.
“So that leaves us with about $3.1 million that we are currently taking out of our general operating funding for transportation,” Stierman said. “So that’s funding that could be spent on a variety of things that the school district does including classroom supports.”
The proposed change is just one of several on the table after the current school year got off to a bumpy start when demand for bus seats far exceeded supply.
With the system needing an overhaul as demands for service increase, other recommendations include expanding seat eligibility to ensure younger students all get on board.
Right now elementary students are guaranteed a seat if they live four or more kilometres away.
The change would see that distance lowered to three kilometres
For middle school students, the eligibility requirement would be lowered to 3.6 kilometres from the current 4.8.
Other recommendations include implementing a payment plan for parents so they wouldn’t have to cover the cost all at once and implementing a subsidy for families on lower incomes.
Parents will have one more opportunity to voice their opinions at the next board meeting on Feb. 12, with a decision on whether to adopt the recommendations after that.