60-percent bus fee hike rejected

CALGARY, Alberta — Public school trustees on Tuesday voted down a proposal by Calgary Board of Education administrators to increase school bus fees by 60 percent. 

SBF reported on the proposal earlier this month.

The recommendation would have cost parents of an elementary or junior high student $33.50 per month, up from $20 per month to ride the same bus this year, according to CBC News.

Public school trustees Chair Pat Cochrane told the news source that she wasn’t comfortable telling parents that they would have to “pony up a 60-percent increase in one year,” and that she believes they have to have a plan to do it over time.

CBS News reports that Calgary Board of Education administrators will now come up with other options to cover high busing costs, and that the trustees will review them next month.