School District 57 can apply for up to $687,663 from a new student transportation fund.
Education Minister Mike Bernier announced $14.7 million for the whole province, which can be used to improve service, accessibility for students with disabilities, ride times and safety at bus stops.
Trustees and senior administration in Prince George haven't yet had a chance to discuss Wednesday's announcement, said vice chair Tim Bennett, but "I could safely assume it would apply in hopes of securing funding."
Some parents in Northeast B.C. and the Lower Mainland pay districts to drive their kids to school, but District 57 has resisted that approach.
"Technically under the School Act, transportation (funding) is not mandated," Bernier said in an interview with the Dawson Creek Mirror. "But we know it's an expectation of parents... especially in rural B.C. where you have students that could be riding the bus for over an hour."
This year, trustees considered adding a $100 per student bus fee to help find funds to meet the province's required administrative savings. Instead, the board opted to pull from their surplus rather than charge parents.
"We recognize that transportation especially in a lot of communities is not an optional thing," said Bennett, noting the district already voted to review its transportation plan, to improve routes and save money.
This year, districts were essentially given back the money they cut to meet the required administrative savings and last year, District 57 contributed $727,000 to the $29 million districts across the province were asked to save.
Transportation is a big consideration, taking up more than $4.5 million of the district's budget.
"Any money to help us continue to offer transportation would be welcome," Bennett said.
Districts have until Sept. 30 to submit an outline of how they hope to spend the funds and districts that charge for transportation must eliminate the fee to be eligible.
