Public speaks out on transportation woes

By Blair Braitenbach
Staff reporter

Issues over busing transparency are being raised again as the Foothills School Division (FSD) attempts to address its ongoing busing deficit.
Last Thursday, FSD trustees met with the public at Dr. Morris Gibson Elementary School in Okotoks to discuss the current busing status of the school division. The division is accepting feedback from the public until May 20 to help establish more cost effective busing practices as it consistently faces deficits. In the 2006-2007 school year, the division managed to stay on budget by eliminating a grandfather clause which provided busing for school of choice students. The decision axed several bus routes affecting 284 students and, according to the division, saved the division $250,000. In addition, the division decreased the number of replacement buses purchased.
However, a group of unhappy parents filed a lawsuit against the division. Subsequently, a Court of Queens Bench Justice ruled parents had not been given enough information prior to the school division making its decision to eliminate several bus routes for out-of-boundary or school of choice students. As a result, the FSD reinstated the bus routes.
Last Thursday’s public consultation was the first for the school division in almost a decade. Lori Czerwinski, a Priddis resident and one of the parents who was involved in the legal challenge for school of choice students, said that although she is pleased the school division is taking the initiative to consult with the public on transportation issues, she found the meeting one-sided and discussions tightly controlled.
“Drew (Chipman, secretary-treasurer of the FSD) gave a very lengthy presentation. We made suggestions that maybe there should be two presentations, yours and ours, or at the very least some open dialogue or some opportunity for some public questions in the room and some time given for some public sharing, and that didn’t occur,” said Czerwinski, a former Foothills school trustee. “In fact, we were discouraged from actually having face-to-face dialogue with our trustees, they were to circulate but they weren’t to engage.”
Carlene Gielser, bus driver for the FSD, said she participated in the consultation to learn what the school division is considering. She said she found the consultation informative.
“There are things which concern me as well, as to where the transportation dollars go. Like everyone else you want it spent in the best place. “(The consultation) opens up a lot of conversation… Sometimes not
everyone has all the information so it’s good to be able to share that information,” Gielser said.
She added she would not be in favour of all parents being charged a transportation fee to subsidize those who send children outside of their attendance area.
“I don’t think that’s fair,” Gielser said.
Those participating in last Thursday’s consultation were encouraged to fill out surveys handed out at the meeting and to follow up on any concerns on the school division’s blog at www.fsd38.ab.ca
The division is posing several questions to parents on ways to better manage busing resources. The school division is asking if it should: continue with grandfathering and out-of-boundary busing; institute a division-wide fee for all bus students to compensate for additional services or should existing fees be increased; reduce transporting the number of Kindergarten-Grade 3 students (without a sibling to accompany them) who live between 1.6 km and 2.4 km from the school, regardless of the lack of provincial funding (Alberta Education only funds students based on a 2.4 km distance from the school); and/or continue to reduce the number of new buses purchased.
The community feedback will be presented to the board on May 7 and the school division will post a bulletin on its website on May 9 with further information. On May 21, the FSD will make its final decision on the direction it will go with transportation. The same consultations were held in High River on April 29 and in Black Diamond on May 6.
Chipman said the school division just received how much provincial funding it will receive and is in the process of finalizing contracts and formulating the budget. He is positive the public consultations will have a constructive impact on the division’s decision.
“The board looks at this as an opportunity to listen to parents, hear concerns and find out what people’s priorities are,” Chipman said. “They did this back in 1999/2000 and got a lot of great feedback.”