As school board officials raise concerns about escalating transportation costs, the Sudbury Student Services Consortium is considering the possibility of increasing walking distances for students.
The executive director of the consortium, the organization which provides transportation for all four local school boards, said the idea is still in the very early stages of consideration.
Renee Boucher said she has just started looking at the average distances students walk across the province, and how local rules compare.
“If you look at the walk distances across the province, we're on the lower side of the walking distances,” she said, adding that to some extent, this can be explained because of the colder weather in Northern Ontario.
Right now, all junior and senior kindergarten students are eligible for bus transportation.
Grade 1-3 students who live more than one kilometre from their school can take the bus, with that distance rising to 1.6 kilometres for Grade 4-8 students and 2.5 kilometres for students in Grades 9-12.
Boucher said she has no idea if or when a change in walking distances could be implemented, as the trustees at each school board using the consortium's services would have to approve the changes.
If walking distances were increased, she said she expects parents would not be happy with the changes.
Sudbury Catholic District School Board chair Jody Cameron also said he's not sure parents would go for the idea.
“I would anticipate that based on the past, there would be some pushback on walking distances, if we get to that point,” he said.
Another cost-saving idea the Sudbury Student Services Consortium is looking at is three-tier bell times, something which could be implemented in September 2015.
Right now, the city's schools have two-tier bell times. Classes start earlier at high schools and later at elementary schools, so the same buses can be used twice to bring students to schools.
Boucher said the consortium is looking at changing elementary bell times so that classes start earlier at some schools, and later at others, so the same buses can be used three times each day.
To some extent, route planners have also managed to reduce the numbers of buses on the road over the years.
These types of cost-saving measures are especially crucial for the Sudbury Catholic District School Board, which has a $4.2 million accumulated deficit.
Transportation was flagged as one of the areas where savings need to be found, as the board's transportation costs have escalated from about $4.5 million in 2008-2009 to about $6 million in 2013-2014.
I would anticipate that based on the past, there would be some pushback on walking distances, if we get to that point.
Jody Cameron,
chair, Sudbury Catholic District School Board
For the past three years, the board has spent more money than it receives from the province for transportation, with that number escalating to about $590,000 in 2013-2014.
Boucher said part of the explanation is that Sudbury Catholic has amalgamated several schools in recent years, which means they're busing more students.
“At times, when schools are built, and schools are closed, transportation costs increase, because you have more students you're now transporting to the new schools, and you have less walkers to all the local little schools.”
The number of special needs students who require transportation has also been increasing, and it's very expensive to bus these students, Boucher said.
While fuel costs have gone up over the years, the province provides school boards with funding to cover those costs, she said.
As well, Sudbury Catholic, like most school boards in the province, has declining enrolment. When there's less students, the transportation grants they receive from the province take a hit, Boucher said.
However, Gary Wheeler, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Education, said Sudbury Catholic has actually received an almost 18 per cent increase in transportation funding since 2002-2003, despite a 20-per-cent decline in enrolment.
“We believe the board has the capacity and resources to deliver safe, effective and efficient student transportation services,” he said in an email statement.
Information provided by Sudbury Catholic shows that ministry grants have stayed relatively stable over the last five years, bouncing between roughly $5.3 and $5.5 million a year.
Boucher said she admits it goes against logic that busing costs are rising when there's less students to transport. But the same routes have to be covered, even if there's less students on a bus, so the costs remain the same, she said.
Cameron said he's aware of the reasons Boucher is providing for escalating transportation costs, but said he'd appreciate a more comprehensive explanation.
“We're the clients,” he said. “So we need to know why, in the last few years, it's gone up substantially. Now it's $600,000. We need to understand what the formula that's used when we're getting those bills.”
These cost overruns are unsustainable, Cameron said, adding he can see a day in the relatively near future where they've risen to $1 million.
Right now, the superintendents of business from all four local school boards sit on the consortium's board of directors. Cameron said he'd like the consortium to report back to school boards more often.
But Rainbow District School Board chair Doreen Dewar said she thinks the Sudbury Student Services Consortium is doing a “fine job.”
But Rainbow District School Board chair Doreen Dewar said she thinks the Sudbury Student Services Consortium is doing a “fine job.”
She said her school board, unlike Sudbury Catholic, has a balanced budget, and isn't looking for any changes in walking distances. She said the board is interested in efficiencies in transportation in general.
Over the past three years, however, the Rainbow District School Board has spent about $550,000 more on transportation than it receives from the province to pay for the service, she said. The board covers this shortfall with declining enrolment funding, Dewar said.
Cathy Modesto, superintendent of business and finance at Conseil scolaire catholique du Nouvel-Ontario, said her board isn't facing any shortfalls when it comes to transportation costs.
“We receive $6.2 million in grants, and our expenses are very close to the $6.2 million,” she said. “So we're balanced.”
Modesto said she thinks that's the case because the French Catholic board hasn't had a dramatic decline in enrolment like the Rainbow and Sudbury Catholic boards have.
However, she said she's keen to look at cost savings, because transportation costs have been rising, and her board may be in a deficit position in this area before long.
“Just because we don't have a deficit doesn't mean we're not looking at efficiencies in the system,” Modesto said.
