Chilliwack school board approves school bus user fees

The Chilliwack school district has approved bringing back user fees for school bus users, to the tune of $215 per student or $350 for riders going to schools of choice.

The district implemented fees as a temporary measure a few years ago, but Secretary Treasurer Gerry Slykhuis  says this would likely be more long term.

“There’s no indication from the government that we’re going to see any increases. In fact we were surprised with the decrease this year. So we’re not really expecting this to get any better next year.”

Slykhuis says the fees would bring in $400,000 of badly needed revenue to help deal with budget shortfalls.

“We had to cut $3.1 million out of our budget and we’re looking for another $2.7 million next year. User fees on the bussing is one of the items that we’re proposing to the board in order to help balance that budget.”

It’s important to note that a low income waiver will be available to families if needed.

Slykhuis says the district is also looking at some staffing cuts in various departments, although he says all but a couple of the cuts are people who are retiring or otherwise leaving anyways.