
By Rachelle Stein-Wotten, Gabriola Sounder, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A vote on a recommendation to charge an administration fee for some school bus riders has been deferred to Nanaimo Ladysmith Public Schools’ next business committee meeting.
The motion to recommend the board of trustees institute a $40 annual administration fee for all students who register and reside within the walk limits to school was moved by Trustee Chantal Morvay who later announced she would abstain from the vote as she realized she would be affected by the recommendation. Secretary Treasurer Mark Walsh then recommended deferral to give time to research the mover of a motion having a conflict.
The process started with a pause in any trustee stepping up to initially move the motion.
“I think nobody wants to read it out loud,” business committee Chair Tania Brzovic said.
The recommendation from staff differed from the initial proposal that went out for public consultation, that a $25 administration fee be charged to all riders to address administrative workload in the transportation department. According to NLPS, there are currently 2,108 registered riders, excluding accessible bus riders, but only an average of 858 daily riders.
The district’s consultation process on the matter ran April 3-14. Out of the 39 emails and 369 participants via the ThoughtExchange survey, the majority were not in support of charging a fee, the district said.
“It’s unsurprising there was not a great deal of support for the concept of an administration fee for bussing,” Walsh said. “Perhaps heartening though is there was a general understanding of the issue that we have and a general understanding of a desire to fix it.”
Walsh also said the district is “going to start more actively monitoring and policing the ridership that we have” including warning families of students whose bus passes are swiped less frequently. “The [administrative procedure] already envisions taking those kids off those routes.”
The $40 fee that staff are proposing to charge to those who register for bus service after October 1 would mean the fee would be first charged for the 2024 school year. Since the fee would apply to those within the walking limits only, which the district says makes up less than half of current registered riders, the higher than initially considered fee would be needed to cover the administration of bus registration. A waiver would be available to those who requested it.
Before the vote was deferred, some trustees laid out their positions on the matter.
“I fundamentally disagree with any charge by boards of education for bussing fees,” Trustee Charlene McKay said, saying, even with a waiver in place, it had the “potential to feel like creating a barrier for some families.”
Trustee Mark Robinson said he would vote in favour at committee level, but wanted “more time to chew on it; I’m hedging toward no.”
Brzovic also wanted more time to consider. “I don’t want to see us in a scenario where if we don’t do this, in a year from now we’re in the position of cutting more routes.”
The next business committee meeting is scheduled for June 14.
Top image credit: Children on the bus – Photo by Nicolas Alejandro via Flickr (CC BY SA, 2.0 License)
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