Surrey schools cuts funding for student buses by more than half

Surrey School District budget cuts will see student transportation services cut by more than half, leaving some students scrambling to find a way to get to class. 

In its budget for the upcoming school year, the district says it is cutting funding for student busing to $3 million from $7.5 million. 

The district says it doesn't have enough money to keep up with inflation and a rising population.

Nicole Berg said it's not safe for her son Marcus, who has support needs, to be near traffic. She said having a bus take him to Lord Tweedsmuir Secondary School every day was a huge help. 

"I've been spending all summer trying to find a replacement," she said. "Picking him up in the middle of the day is exceedingly challenging."

Marcus is heading into Grade 11 and needs help getting to class. For a few years, the school bus was able to help him arrive safely.

Now, Berg and a group of parents are calling on the Ministry of Education to fund the gap in bus services.

In a statement emailed to CBC News, Rachna Singh, B.C's minister of education and child care, said it's up to the boards of education and school districts to allocate the funding they receive.

"While the ministry provides funding to public school districts to purchase buses, the decision to provide school transportation options for students is made by school districts at the local level," Singh said. 

According to Singh, the ministry has been steadily increasing operating funding for school boards since 2017 and is giving more than $1 billion in operating and special grants to Surrey this school year. 

Surrey School District trustee Terry Allen said it's still not enough money to match inflation and the district's rapidly increasing student population.

"We know the impact that it's going to have on some families. We know it's going to be a hardship on some families, but those decisions we have to make because our job is to balance the budget," Allen said. 

The Surrey School District is the largest in B.C., with more than 82,000 students. Allen said thousands more are expected to enrol next school year. 

Combined with inflation, he said the district doesn't have enough money to provide all the services it used to. 

"[Transportation] is a fringe on the edge," he said. "When you make these kinds of cuts, the intention is always to keep the cuts as far away from the classroom as you possibly can."

Some students losing bus service

Now, some parents are scrambling to find a way to get their kids to school. 

Dildeep Khaira, who has two children who also have support needs, said school bus services helped them get over their anxiety being dropped off at a Surrey school. But in June, Khaira learned they would no longer be eligible.

This summer, Khaira said she received an email saying her kids didn't meet the criteria.

"One thing that was helping us has been taken away," Khaira said. "There's no appeal. There's no explanation."

Meanwhile, Berg said leaving work to pick up her son isn't always feasible, and hiring someone just to pick him up in the middle of the day is difficult. She's calling on the province to increase the school board's funding to the school board, to fill the gap.

"It's absolutely on the ministry. I think they have underfunded the Surrey School District, and now they're playing catch-up," she said.