School Bus Transportation Funding

Whereas in 2012 the provincial government changed the formula for transportation funding for school bussing to a Student Location Factor that it is based on a measurement of population density and not population dispersion within a region; And whereas school districts are allocated the same funding for students attending a school within 10 km of their homes as they would within 100 km of their home; And whereas this change in funding formula has left rural school districts in a position where they have had to make drastic budget cuts and charge families fees for this service in order to make up the funding shortfall: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM call on the provincial government to reconvene the committee that developed the Student Location Factor in order to reconsider the issue of school bus transportation funding and impacts to school divisions and rural and remote areas.