(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

feeling the pinch

Rural school divisions adjust busing budgets due to gas price rise, no additional help coming in short-term

Apr 12, 2022 | 12:01 PM

Multiple rural central Alberta school divisions are modifying their paths forward on busing thanks to the recent rise in fuel costs.

At a recent board meeting, trustees for Clearview Public Schools, which is based in the Stettler area, increased its per-kilometre rate for schools using buses for field trips.

The rate is now $1.50, up from $1.20, which the division explains is an average of the cost per km to operate a school bus, but not including driver compensation.

Board Chair Guy Neitz says it was a difficult decision.

“We know field trips and extracurricular trips are an important part of the experience for children in our schools. With the inflation we are experiencing including the quickly escalating price of fuel, the costs to provide transportation services for field trips and extracurricular trips has and continues to go up,” he says. “As we are committed to providing the most possible towards teachers and education assistants, the increase in the per kilometre reimbursement for the cost of extracurricular transportation will ensure a balance to having the best in-classroom learning and providing other valuable educational experiences for students.”

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It’s explained this would only get passed onto parents if individual schools decide to do so. According to provincial regulations, families can only be charged a maximum amount per student for field trips and other things over the course of a school year.

Clearview’s board also endorsed a letter from the Student Transportation Association of Alberta (STAA) which asks the provincial government for support with the rising cost of fuel.

Among other things, the STAA has requested the government reinstate the fuel price contingency fund, which it notes was removed eight to nine years ago.

“We do note that changes in funding from 2014 until today have increased, but not to the point of covering fuel increases we are currently experiencing,” the association writes. “We view the current fuel price fluctuations as one of, if not the biggest threat to school bus operators continuing to provide service across the province.”

As of April 11, the STAA has not received a response from Education Minister Adriana LaGrange.

However, the Ministry of Education did provide a statement to rdnewsNOW saying first that it values the roles school boards and school bus contractors play in providing safe transportation for nearly 300,000 students.

Writes Katherine Stavropoulos, press secretary to Minister LaGrange:

“We understand the impact rising fuel costs have had on student transportation operations and have received several emails from stakeholders and school authorities regarding fuel cost relief for school boards and school bus contractors. Suspending the collection of the 13 cent/L provincial fuel tax April 1 will provide school boards approximately $1.33 million in relief from rising fuel costs for the remainder of the 2021/22 school year. We appreciate suggestions to reinstate the fuel price contingency program that was discontinued in 2013. We will consider the merits of reinstating this program when determining the new student transportation funding model that will be introduced for the 2023/24 school year.”

Stavropoulos notes funding increased by five per cent for each 2020/21 and 2021/22, and it will go up again 4.6 per cent for the 2022/23 school year.

“As fuel costs make up to 15 to 20 per cent of a school board’s student transportation budget, we will continue to monitor the situation,” says Stavropoulos. “School boards are also encouraged to continue to seek efficiencies in their student transportation operations and explore cooperative transportation opportunities where they exist.”

At Wild Rose School Division, there is a contract for all student transportation.

A division spokesperson tells rdnewsNOW, however, there is a fuel escalation clause, meaning the division will end up paying some of its contractors more. The board also endorsed the STAA letter by writing its own to Minister LaGrange.

Chinook’s Edge School Division (CESD) is anticipating a $12,000 impact due to rising fuel costs.

“However, the board has made the decision to keep transportation fees for bus families at the current rates for the 2022-23 school year,” says Shawn Russel, Associate Superintendent. “This provides time to determine if fuel costs will remain high or if this is a shorter-term situation.”

CESD has not, to date, endorsed the STAA letter.

The board for Wolf Creek, which will review the letter at its upcoming meeting, is also making adjustments.

“We are seeing an adjustment to the hourly rate for the bus driver utilized on a field trip from $16.43 per hour this year to $17.42 in the 22/23 school year, which better reflects the actual cost of the driver. The per kilometre rate will remain at $1.60 per kilometre,” explains Superintendent Tim De Ruyck.

“Because that rate has held steady even through higher fuel costs, we don’t anticipate a change if fuel trends back down.”

He adds that because of COVID cancelling virtually all field trips over the last two years, financials around busing remain skewed.

Red Deer Public Schools is in a similar situation as Wild Rose, with services contracted out. However, with seven of its own buses, some fees for field trips and extracurricular activities could slightly increase, a spokesperson says. Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools did not respond to our request for comment.