Albertan’s have until June 15 to voice their opinion on the future of student transportation in the province.
“Making sure students are transported to school and back home safely each day is an extremely important yet complicated task that involves a number of organizations,” said Alberta Minister of Education, David Eggen.
“We are looking forward to hearing from Albertans on this important topic,” he said.
The province is consulting Albertans via an online survey about what changes people would like to see made to the current student transportation eligibility criteria.
“We want to know Albertans’ views on how to make this process the best it can be,” said Eggen.
The survey, which went live in April, asks Albertans for their opinion on potential changes to service levels, distance criteria and what safety considerations need to be include in bussing eligibility criteria.
The survey continues on Alberta Educations work to understand the transportation challenges across the province through stakeholder outreach.
“Student safety is paramount to parents across Alberta, and we appreciate the opportunity to provide input on the rules before they come into play,” said Allison Pike president of the Alberta School Councils’ Association.
“We look forward to working with Alberta Education to ensure parents’ voices are heard and the new transportation rules will work for Alberta families,” she said.
The survey closes on June 15. The government has scheduled any changes to eligibility criteria to be finalized in the fall.
Once the proposed changes are finalized they will be put into effect for the 2019-2020 school year.
This timeline is intended to give both parents and school divisions time to adjust to the new eligibility requirements.
The survey is available online at http://surveys.education.gov.ab.ca/novi/n/StudentTransportationSurvey.aspx
