NLSD files motion to dissolve transportation agreement
Attempts to renegotiate and reduce calendar variances in the joint transportation system shared between the Northern Lights School Division (NLSD) and Lakeland Catholic School District (LCSD) failed to come to a suitable compromise. As a result, the NLSD has submitted a notice of termination that could see the end of shared bussing between the two systems in the Bonnyville – Cold Lake area, according to Walter Hrycauk, NLSD board chair.
Hrycauk explained after attempts to discuss the issue with LCSD, administration suggested the course of action at the regular board meeting in Lac La Biche this past Wednesday.
He said, “Administration came to us with recommendations following a couple of those meetings and there was no bend on the part of the other system to reduce the variances in calendar, so (administration’s) recommendation was to dissolve the system because we just can’t afford it.”
The motion was passed unanimously by the NLSD trustees. Trustee Rod Soholt was not present at the meeting.
Hrycauk added the agreement between the boards is one of the longest standing joint transportation agreements in Alberta, beginning in 1980 when the two school districts formed. Because the Lakeland Public division was the largest, it was designated as the legal entity in the agreement, meaning it was the transporting board and the Catholic system “just sort of joined in.”
“It functioned very well for a number of years,” he said.
In 2005, however, he explained, the boards got together and amended the agreement to allow for variances in calendar. The original agreement had very little flexibility in that regard.
“Since 2005, those variances have significantly increased,” he said. “To the point where we cannot afford to operate as a joint system anymore because it’s just costing too much money to pick up the cost of these additional days on the calendar where one school system might not be in and the other one is.”
This year, variances in calendar have cost the joint transportation fund $450,000.
“We have no other option but to say that we cannot continue like this because we are not prepared to take money from other aspects of the operation to pay for transportation so the board decided that we’d have to serve notice and just go on and transport our own students.”
Bernadette Provost, superintendent for LCSD, said it was “premature” to comment on the issue, adding, “It’s just a notice. They want to open up the agreement.”
She added once the agreement is open for amendment, the two boards will meet and identify anything that needs to be looked at or changed.
“It’s not uncommon,” she said. “We did this six years ago, so we got the current agreement.”
Hrycauk also said, “The door is open for further negotiation and talks between the two boards, so we’ll see what happens in the next couple of weeks.”
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