Aspen View Public Schools (AVPS) is hoping new school boundaries will help accommodate existing students while keeping ride times at a minimum in its more rural areas.
The biggest impact will be felt by families with kids in Rochester School, which is closing its doors at the end of the 2024-2025 school year. Trustees voted unanimously April 17 to split the school’s catchment area between Athabasca and Thorhild, using a boundary that loosely follows Highway 661 through Rochester before moving north to accommodate dead end roads.
“It doesn’t matter what option we pick, it’s a significant change for the community,” said board chair Candy Nikipelo.
With the new boundary, Aspen View is expecting four bus routes to head to Athabasca, leaving between 7:19 a.m. and 7:29 a.m., and one route to Thorhild School leaving at 7:26.
Other options included bussing all the students to Athabasca, all the students to Thorhild, or using Township Road 660 as the boundary, but all would have required earlier busses and didn’t accommodate existing students as well.
Transportation for existing students will be provided, regardless of the new catchment areas. The majority of high school students currently attending Edwin Parr Composite (EPC) are in the Athabasca catchment with the exception of one student who would now be in the Thorhild area.
“When we’re revising school attendance areas we need to consider where students are currently attending. We give them the opportunity to complete their current level, whether that’s elementary, junior high or senior high,” said secretary-treasurer Amber Oko.
With the changes to the attendance area, Aspen View will be sending letters directly to effected families outlining the changes, future options, and ask them to provide registration as early as possible to make bussing easier.
A bittersweet solution
Trustees also made the decision to move the H.A. Kostash attendance boundary closer to Vilna School to accommodate 12 students currently attending the Smoky Lake school.
The change allows seven additional students to receive door-to-door transportation, with the other five continuing to access a community stop, but bussing challenges in the region mean the ride times are longer than trustees would like.
“It’s bittersweet, it pleases me that we can accommodate an extra seven students, but there’s still five that aren’t. The one thing I’m not pleased about is the pickup times. Those are concerning, it’s a 10 minute change on one bus and a 15 minute change on the other.”
While the bus routes won’t be longer for students already being transported, the seven new homes means the two routes will have to start before 7 a.m.
Supt. Constantine Kastrinos said it was unlikely the division would be able to add a new route due to cost and contractor availability.
“Additional routes are in the neighbourhood of $100,000, and that’s if you can find contractors able to pick up that route, and if you’re able to find a bus driver to drive it in a consistent fashion,” he said.
“Our Smoky Lake-Vilna area has been a challenging area to secure both driving and consistent drivers.”
Trustees voted 5-0 to approve the decision after trustee Donna Cherniwchan recused herself from the discussion due to a potential conflict of interest.
