EDMONTON -- The Edmonton Catholic School Board (ECSB) has voted to introduce bus fees for students living more that 2.4 kilometres from their schools.
Under a 2017 grant from the previous NDP government, bus fees for students living more than 2.4 kilometres away were covered.
The ECSB says that the cancellation of that grant has left them with an additional $2.7-million deficit on top of their existing $1.9-million deficit.
Transportation fees for the 2019-20 school year will begin on Feb. 1, 2020. Elementary school students living more that 2.4 kilometres away will pay $33 a month while junior high and high school students will pay $56 a month. For the 2020-21 school year, transportation will cost $335 a year for elementary school students and $565 for junior high and high school students.
“This is cost recovery. We’re not looking to make money off of this, we’re just looking to ensure that the money is put into the classrooms,” said ECSB Trustee Sandra Palazzo. “Based on the fee schedule brought forward it’s difficult.”
The school board cited October's UCP budget, which left them with a $12.5-million shortfall, as a reason for the new fees, but maintained teachers and staff will not be laid off.
“It’s something that, as parents, we know is going to affect the pocketbooks of our stakeholders. We realize that, but there is nothing more we can do,” said Debbie Engel, ECSB trustee.
“We can’t start taking money from the classroom; those dollars are already stretched."
The move comes a week after the Edmonton Public School Board made a similar decision.
With files from CTV Edmonton's Matt Woodman
