‘Back that up with funding’: CBE responds to education minister’s criticism of transportation plan

The Calgary Board of Education is firing back at Alberta’s education minister and his criticism of its new bussing strategy.

Last week, David Eggen condemned a plan to charge parents of kids in alternative programs a total of $700 in annual fees.

The CBE says it’s all in reaction to Bill 1, which eliminated transportation fees for students in regular programs.

Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees, Trina Hurdman, says she was surprised by Eggen’s comments.

She says they’ve working with the ministry to make quick adjustments, but they simply don’t have enough cash.

“His funding formula from Alberta Education, does not actually support any funding for alternative program transportation, and so while the minister may say that he supports alternative programs, we would really like him to back that up with funding,” she said.

However, there’s also been criticism from parents on a lack of consultation.

Hurdman says they’ve tried to be as open as possible about the changes.

“We also sent a letter to every single parent within our system,” she said.

“There’s a lot of information on the CBE website, and they are also welcome to contact us.”

She said parents have been clear in the past they don’t want money from the General Education budget being used to subsidize transportation.

“We would ask (Eggen) to talk to us about those concerns, because we also believe that we are not completely meeting parental expectations,” Hurdman said.

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