Families in the Southeast Kootenay school district will benefit from improved transportation services, thanks to $361,459 in funding under the new provincial Student Transportation Fund.

Kootenay East MLA Bill Bennett announced today, on behalf of Education Minister Mike Bernier,that the Southeast Kootenay school district (School District No. 5) will use the new funding to: Enhance curricular and extracurricular travel, this includes athletics programs. Improve bus routes. Provide mechanical equipment upgrades. Improve bus safety by installing video cameras and providing additional supervision and driver training and provide additional special education services.

“This funding will provide a considerable numbers of safety improvements. Parents want their children to have access to the safest and most reliable transportation possible, and this funding will ensure that happens,” Bennett said.

The new $14.7-million Student Transportation Fund was announced in August to help school districts provide affordable and accessible transportation for British Columbia families.

To be eligible for funding, school districts had to submit a plan to the Ministry of Education outlining how they will use the funding to enhance transportation services for students and families. The amount of funding for which a district is eligible is based on a formula tied to the ministry’s student-location factor, which is used to determine the rural makeup of a school district, a Ministry of Education press release explained.

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