School busing fees in the Central Okanagan should rise from $450 to $500 per student next year, trustees say.Â
Options included $550 and $600 but trustees at a recent meeting of the finance and planning committee settled on the lowest recommended increase.Â
Even with the boost, which must still be endorsed at a full board meeting of trustees next month, the school bus system will still require a significant subsidy, drawing money that would otherwise go to the direct provision of education.Â
Total busing costs for the coming year are estimated to be about $7 million, but the proposed new fees will generate only $2.5 million. The province provides a grant of $600,00, so the district has to take about $4 million from its block provincial funding to keep running the bus system, which serves about 5,500 of the district’s 25,000 students.Â
The provincial government does not require school districts to offer busing, and most do not. Essentially, in those districts, it is the responsibility of parents to get their children to school.Â
In the Central Okanagan, students are considered eligible for busing if they live more than three kilometres from the nearest elementary school, four kilometres from the nearest middle school, or 4.8 km from the nearest high school.Â
The Kelowna-based district operates the largest school bus fleet in B.C., with 76 routes.
Busing fees were first introduced in 2010, set at a per-student rate of $200. It went down to $100 in 2011 in the face of a parent backlash, but has gone up steadily since then.Â