The School District will no longer be charging transportation fees to students who take a bus to school.
The good news, announced two weeks before school starts, means the district will be providing families with a refund for the fees they paid for the upcoming school year.
"Because of the timing of the announcement many families had already prepaid their fees for the upcoming school year and those fees are being refunded," said Langley School District spokesperson Ken Hoff. "This is ongoing funding from the Ministry which will eliminate the need to have transportation fees for our families in the future."
Bus fees cost an average of $250 per student in Langley. There are about 1,500 students that access transportation services each year.
On Aug.10, the Ministry of Education made an announcement that it has established a $14.7 million provincial fund to make bus transportation for B.C. resident students and their families more affordable and accessible.
Langley’s portion of the provincial fund enabled the district to stop charging transportation fees.
“The funding announcement from the Ministry of Education is good news for families as fees for bus transportation will be discontinued," said David Green, District secretary-treasurer.
Families are reminded that registering for transportation is still required.
The annual cost for bus transportation in the District is about $2.2 million. Funding from the Ministry of Education for the Langley School District is $260,000, reducing the district cost to approximately $2 million.