Some rural bus riders in Wild Rose School Division will see some new scenery this fall as several bus routes are being combined ahead of the 2026-27 school year.
One route in Drayton Valley and Breton will be affected, as well as a number of routes in the south end of the division for students in Rocky Mountain House and Caroline. Officials say steps have been taken to ensure students do not have significantly longer rides to school.
The division says the changes come after a sharp drop in the number of parents registering their children for transportation.
In August 2026, around 1,480 students were registered for transportation, down from around 2,500 in the 2025-26 school year — a 40 per cent drop.
Superintendent Jodie Mattia says the main reason for the decline appears to be that more parents are choosing to drive their children to school this year.
Mattia says the decline could also be attributed to parents who were “holding” their child’s seat on the bus last year even though they were driving them to school.
“I think in some cases, [parents] didn’t recognize there is a cost to that,” she says.
Parents may now be reconsidering holding those seats as the division has introduced student transportation fees for the 2026-27 school year.
The annual fees are $250 for each partially funded student and $500 for each additional-circumstance student, with some exceptions.
The division has published a breakdown of the fees and a list of frequently asked questions on its website.
Parents can register their children for transportation at any time, Mattia says. She adds that it is not unusual to see an influx of registration inquiries at the beginning of the school year.
According to the division’s website, families that do not register for transportation will not be required to pay any portion of the transportation fee.
Parents react to transportation fees
Loretta Bailey, whose two grandchildren ride 20 minutes to school in Rocky Mountain House, calls the new fee structure outrageous.
“How is a single parent supposed to afford the fees?” she asks.
Because they live outside town, Bailey’s grandchildren fall under the division’s Out of Transportation Area criteria, meaning they would pay the higher fee of $500 per student.
Bailey says her family will likely be forced to pay the fees because there are no other practical options for getting her grandchildren to school.
With other mounting back-to-school costs, Bailey worries that the added transportation fees may be too much for some families to handle.
“When you have two or more children, that adds up.”
Despite her concerns, Bailey is not necessarily calling on WRSD to drop the fees completely. Instead, she is calling on the division to lower them to make life more affordable for single-parent families and families whose children have special needs.
She also questioned whether students whose families do not pay the fees would be able to ride school buses on field trips.
The first day of classes for WRSD students is Monday, Aug. 31.
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