CBE Trustees to consider three alternatives for transportation fees at June 7 public board meeting

The Calgary Board of Education announced in a press release today that trustees will be considering three alternatives for transportation fees while maintaining current service levels. Administration is recommending "partial cost recovery—increase fees while subsidizing costs with some instructional dollars," in order to "mitigate impact on families."

Administration also comments in the report that, "Should the Board of Trustees not approve any of the proposed scenarios for the 2011/2012 Transportation Fee Schedule, administration would need to adjust service levels and transportation routes for the start of the 2011-2012 school year and transportation service might not be fully operational when school begins."

The report goes on to say that, "The public discussion and debate about transportation fees for the 2011-12 school year has surfaced many real and difficult issues. As such a comprehensive review of all fees needs to occur early in the 2011-2012 school year in order to ascertain the public’s guiding principles for the entire fee structure and balance them with the Board of Trustees’ requirements."

Transportation Fee Increases

An interesting study by the Alberta School Boards Association, "At the breaking point: Alberta's student transportation system," dating back to 2008 discusses in detail the transportation funding challenges of urban metro boards such as Calgary. In the study's conclusion, the ASBA had this to say:

The ASBA studies to date as well as the September 2007 board transportation survey all point to overall funding shortfall pressures faced by the majority of school boards in the province as they attempt to deliver service acceptable to their communities. In response, boards have raised transportation fees by approximately 60%in the last three years and/or have borrowed from other areas of board operation to fund their transportation system. These pressures, if left unresolved, will push Alberta’s student transportation system past its breaking point.

It should be noted that the Metro Urban Funding Framework is still under review by the province. This is the second year that funding for transporation has not increased. Another impact will be the reduction of the Relative Cost of Purchasing Goods and Services Adjustment (RCPA)for the 2011/2012 school year and then its elimination for the 2012/2013 school year. And finally, the impact of school board reserve depletion.