The local Catholic school board chair says news of extra money for busing students to and from school is welcome, however there are concerns there won’t be enough bus drivers to meet the new demand.
Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools (GSACRD) board chair Joe Becigneul said the news is good, but might be complicated to roll out.
“Its wonderful, but they have not taken into account that they are going to need more buses, which means we are going to need more drivers.”
“And the bus companies now are having a hard time getting and keeping drivers.”
Becigneul said when drivers become qualified to drive buses, once their education level is reached, they go and drive bigger trucks for more money. But Becigneul said despite the future complications, it is nice to have the money.
On Thursday Education Minister Adriana LaGrange announced the distance kids live from schools to be able to get bus funding will be reduced.
Right now, kids who live 2.4 kilometers and further from their school are ineligible for provincial funding for busing to and from class.
The new changes will see kids in Grades 1 to 6 be eligible for bus funding at one kilometer away. Students in Grades 7 to 12 will get bus funding at two kilometers away from school.
With the changes, the province is expecting an additional 80,000 more students to get bus funding, which is an increase of 32 per cent.
In the local Catholic district, Becigneul said right now parents have the option to pay for busing past the 2.4 kilometer mark, but the new money could ease the costs on parents trying to get their kids to schools.
The chair noted that currently parents might be driving their kids to school instead of sending them on the bus, and he anticipates this change will get more kids on the bus, and ease traffic congestion around schools.
Across the province, around 47,000 students are currently paying extra fees to ride the bus, but the changes will allow for provincial financial support to those kids and ease financial pressures on families. The province expects another 13,000 kids will need to be added to buses, which will require another 250 drivers.
LaGrange said parents are having to pay higher and higher fees and the government wanted to help support them.
“We wanted to make sure that all families right across Alberta were able to access the transportation they need to get to school and not have cost be the barrier,” the minister said.
The changes were part of the province’s 2023 budget and will cost $414 million over three years and will start September 2024.
