News Release
December 18, 2001
Waterloo-Wellington MPP Ted Arnott

MPP Arnott Announces New Money for School Bus Transportation

Additional money is being provided to local boards of education for school bus services, says Waterloo-Wellington MPP Ted Arnott.

The one-time funding is for boards that have struggled with funding pressures including fuel costs and driving longer distances for students in rural areas. Province-wide, the Government is providing an extra $29.3 million this year for school bus transportation.

“Education Minister Janet Ecker has listened to the concerns expressed by school boards and bus operators serving Waterloo-Wellington,” Mr. Arnott acknowledged. “She should be commended for helping them cover expenses over and above the amount that they have been receiving in their funding package for student transportation,” he added.

Working with his colleagues, MPP David Tilson and MPP Brenda Elliott, Mr. Arnott has raised the issue of school bus funding within the Government Caucus and during Question Period with the Minister on June 19, 2000 and on October 11, 2001.

On both occasions in the Legislature, Mr. Arnott expressed support for his constituents' request for a long-term solution that would adjust the funding formula to alleviate the funding shortfalls experienced by some school boards in Ontario.

In her response to Mr. Arnott's question on October 11, Ms. Ecker agreed to consider providing extra assistance this year:

“...we have given them one-time funding. We have done that previously. We can certainly look and see if that is something that would be of assistance this year. We are in the process this fall, as we do every year, of finalizing the policies for funding for the next school year. We are looking at the school bus transportation piece of that this fall. To the member for Waterloo-Wellington and my caucus colleagues, I will be seeking your advice on how best to make sure we roll that out in a way that is fair and effective. I've certainly heard from them. I appreciate the timeliness, the pressure that we need to get this issue solved.”

Of the new funds being provided this year, school boards in Waterloo-Wellington are receiving the following:

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

Official Record of Debate

(Hansard)

SCHOOL BUS FUNDING

October 11, 2001

Mr David Tilson (Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey): I have a question for the Minister of Education concerning school busing. The Liberals tried to ask the question but they didn't go far enough. This problem is a concern of my riding.

We've been meeting with a number of school bus operators, both in my riding and from across Ontario. These people are experiencing financial challenges as a result of funding pressures because of increased fuel, staffing and maintenance costs. My question to the minister is whether she will inform us how she is working with school boards, and specifically what funding supports the government is currently committing to help school bus operators and students from across Ontario.

Hon Janet Ecker (Minister of Education, Government House Leader): To the honourable member, who I know has been advocating quite strongly on behalf of his school community on this issue, as I had mentioned, we have been working with the bus industry and school boards to develop a way to fund bus transportation that is fair, equitable and respects the legitimate costs of a safe, efficient bus system. We have funded school boards to help them put in place the information technology that will allow them to run safer, more effective bus systems. We have done that in previous years to give them those financial resources.

Second, while this work is going on, to make sure we have a fair way to fund, we have topped up with special one-time funding. Last year we did that for the school bus group: $23 million. We gave school boards an increase in resources this year that was flexible: $360 million that they could use --

The Speaker (Hon Gary Carr): Order. The minister's time is up. Supplementary.

Mr Ted Arnott (Waterloo-Wellington): I want to thank the minister for that answer. We appreciate the work she's doing on this issue, but I would like to inform the House how this issue impacts on my riding of Waterloo-Wellington.

Like the member for Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey, I am very concerned about the inequities in the existing funding formula. I have met with a significant number of my school bus operators and school board officials. What can I advise the school officials and school bus operators in Waterloo-Wellington on the status of the new funding formula, and will the minister inform the House if there are other ways to address these funding pressures?

Hon Mrs Ecker: As I have indicated, while the new way to fund is being developed, we have given them one-time funding. We have done that previously. We can certainly look and see if that is something that would be of assistance this year.

We are in the process this fall, as we do every year, of finalizing the policies for funding for the next school year. We are looking at the school bus transportation piece of that this fall. To the member for Waterloo-Wellington and my caucus colleagues, I will be seeking your advice on how best to make sure we roll that out in a way that is fair and effective. I've certainly heard from them. I appreciate the timeliness, the pressure that we need to get this issue solved.

LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY OF ONTARIO

Official Record of Debate

(Hansard)

STUDENT TRANSPORTATION

June 19, 2000

Mr Ted Arnott (Waterloo-Wellington): My question is for the Minister of Education and it concerns funding for school busing in my riding of Waterloo-Wellington, which comprises areas such as the Waterloo region public school board, the Waterloo separate school board, the Upper Grand District School Board and the Wellington separate school board.

I would like to first of all acknowledge the efforts of my colleagues the member for Dufferin-Peel-Wellington-Grey and the member for Guelph-Wellington for their leadership on this issue as well.

We have heard from stakeholders, including board officials and school bus operators, and their first message is one of appreciation to the minister for the additional $23 million in funding recently budgeted for pupil transportation. At the same time, we are hearing that funding inequities need to be addressed. For example, boards which cut costs some years ago are apparently receiving less relative to boards which did not find savings during that time. There are also concerns that rural boards which have fewer students but much longer bus rides are at a funding disadvantage relative to urban areas.

Would the minister update this House on how these new dollars might alleviate these kinds of funding problems in the future?

Hon Janet Ecker (Minister of Education): I thank the member for the question. I have had many discussions with the caucus colleagues he has mentioned about this issue. The transportation of students to schools is extremely important. We want to make sure that it's available, that it's safe, that our students are arriving ready to learn and well-transported, if you will. There's no question, as the honourable member focuses on, that some boards have done a very good job, have been very cost-effective, while others have not been able to take those steps.

We've put forward interim funding this year for those school boards, primarily for rural and northern boards, remote boards that have some significant challenges. That brought a total of $600 million for transportation grants, the highest it has been. But we also know that we need to do more work about how boards get that money, because it's still not supporting them in the way it needs to. We have a working group that is doing that work now to see how we can best financially support those boards to have appropriate bus transportation for our students. The providers have certainly been experiencing some cost pressures, and we want to make sure that we do not jeopardize this very important service for our students.

The Speaker (Hon Gary Carr): Supplementary?

Mrs Brenda Elliott (Guelph-Wellington): Minister, this is a very serious issue in our riding. Our constituents want our school boards to be diligent in finding efficiency and in spending every tax dollar wisely. One way that has been suggested for this to occur is for boards to form consortia, to join forces and co-operate, for instance, in things like designing school bus routes.

What I would like to know is: Do you agree with the concept of consortia, and what steps will you take as minister to ensure that the boards work together and direct as many education dollars as possible to the classroom?

Hon Mrs Ecker: The honourable member from the opposition says there's nothing new about consortia for school boards and transportation. He's right. There wasn't anything new. Their government, unfortunately, didn't take steps to ensure that was indeed happening. We are taking steps to make sure that those school boards who have not explored this option should indeed do that. Some boards have already saved many millions of dollars, which they're plowing back into the classroom, by being efficient in transportation, by doing consortia among themselves or the coterminous boards. I know, just even in Durham region, some of the potential savings from doing that are quite significant. So we are encouraging that. We're doing it through a number of ways. Most recently, we have money available to boards for the information technology that allows them to do that better. Again, some boards have moved forward with that; others have not been able to. We want to make sure that they have those technology supports. Again, the goal here is to make sure our students have the bus transportation they need and that it is done in the most cost-effective fashion possible.