More Upper Grand students eligible to ride the bus to school
MEDIA RELEASE
For Immediate Release
June 2, 2010
GUELPH, Ontario — More students in grades 7-12 will be eligible to ride the bus to school in September as a result of a decision by trustees of the Upper Grand District School Board to revise its transportation policy and improve walking distances for these students.
Currently students in these grades must walk 4.8 kilometers to school before they can be considered for bus transportation. The board’s decision means that these distances will now drop to 3.2 kilometers for grades 7 and 8 and 3.5 kilometers for students in grades 9 to 12.
The walking distances for the board, which are among the highest in the province, have not been revised for more than 20 years due to transportation funding issues. With the development of the Service de Transport de Wellington-Dufferin Student Transportation Services (STWDSTS) consortium and following two Ministry of Education Effectiveness and Efficiency (E&E) Reviews, funding has increased to the point where the walking distances can be reduced for some students.
“This is welcome news that’s been a long time coming,” said board chair, Bob Borden.
“Trustees report that our walking distances are the subject of many concerns for parents that we have not been able to remedy due to years of funding shortfalls.”
The E&E reviews in 2007 and 2009 and work by the consortium staff earned STWDSTS an overall rating of “high” in the four areas of focus: Consortium Management, Policies and Practices, Routing and Technology, and Contracts. One of the most difficult changes required by the reviews was the move to competitive procurement practices under a Request for Proposal (RFP) process which began with 25% of the bus routes done in 2008-09, and the remaining 75% of the routes subject to the process during this school year.
The high rating resulted in increased revenues in the transportation area while the RFP process decreased expenditures, allowing the board to lower the walking distances. For the first time in many years, the board’s transportation costs fit into the revenue received from the province. The approximate cost of the changes is $767,400 for the 2010-11 school year.
The province’s transportation funding model stipulates that all monies received by school boards must be spent solely on transportation and not allocated to other budget lines. In addition, boards that don’t use all the money they receive in one year must pay back any surplus in the following school year, and also have their annual funding reduced by the surplus amount into the future.
While the walking distances do not exactly match those of the other four consortium school board partners (which remains one of the goals of Ministry’s E&E initiative) it brings them in line with those of the Wellington Catholic District School Board for all grade levels except 9-12. Upper Grand’s high school students will still walk further than their Catholic counterparts, but only by point 3 (.3) of a kilometer beginning in September.
Walking distances for students from the other boards (French-language public and Catholic and Dufferin Peel Catholic) historically have been lower in most grade categories than Upper Grand.
Approximately 70% of the Wellington and Dufferin County bus students served by the consortium attend Upper Grand schools. The change means that about 840 students will be eligible for bus transportation in September 2011.
During the coming months, staff at STWDSTS will be revising bus routes to extend service to the additional students who are now eligible.
For more information: Maggie McFadzen, Communications Officer, 519-822-4420, ext. 725
[email protected]
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