The Hay River District Education Authority says it has “exhausted every effort” to save its school bus program, but will be discontinuing the service for the 2026-27 school year.
“The decision to eliminate the busing program entirely is the result of ongoing discussions and operational changes spanning more than 20 years,” the education authority stated in a Monday notice.
“Numerous attempts have been made to find sustainable solutions for this chronically underfunded service.”
In the notice, the district education authority, also known as HRDEA, said it was previously able to rely on substantial support through the Jordan’s Principle program, which helped ensure most students had access to transportation services.
Last year’s changes to the federal program mean Hay River no longer qualifies for that funding, the education authority said. It added declining student enrolment in Hay River has also negatively impacted available funding for the bus program.
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Authority projects more than $49K shortfall
The Hay River education authority said it began scaling back its bus services in 2025 because of reduced Jordan’s Principle funding, choosing to prioritize students based on the length of their commute, safety concerns, age and medical needs.
A one-time donation from the local Youth Justice Committee helped keep the limited version of the service running, but the HRDEA said it expects even less funding for 2026-27.
According to projected revenues and expenses included in the bulletin, the education authority is facing a $49,654 deficit for the bus service in 2026-27.
The notice said that after issuing a request for proposals to find more affordable bids, the education authority determined that the $68,346 in funding provided by the territorial government is not sufficient to operate a school bus service, particularly given current fuel and operational costs.
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“Student transportation has long been an unsupported and underfunded program whose importance often goes unrecognized – at least until the service is no longer available,” the notice said.
“Please be assured that the HRDEA has done everything within its power to maintain student transportation services. However, unless meaningful changes are made to the current GNWT funding model, the HRDEA is left with no other option but to discontinue the program altogether.”
GNWT reviewing funding for student transportation
The HRDEA said the NWT Department of Education, Culture and Employment has committed to reviewing its funding model for student transportation, but “changes have not come soon enough to prevent the loss of this essential service.”
On Thursday, a spokesperson for the department said the funding review is currently underway and the territorial government is working with education bodies, including the HRDEA, to gather operational and cost data across the territory.
The spokesperson said the aim of the review is to better understand current pressures and develop a funding approach that is “informed, equitable, and sustainable.”
The GNWT said it is not planning emergency bridge funding to address the projected shortfall for school bus service in Hay River.
“The department remains focused on completing the ongoing student transportation funding review to better understand current pressures and support future decision-making,” the spokesperson said via email.
Past bus cancellation ‘unreasonable,’ GNWT says
The spokesperson added that the department provides student transportation funding to divisional education councils – including the South Slave Divisional Education Council (SSDEC), which manages the HRDEA – through an established funding framework.
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Under the Education Act, “it is the responsibility and discretion of the SSDEC to determine how those funds are allocated across the education authorities within its division,” the spokesperson said.
“This includes decisions about directing transportation funding to communities that operate active bussing services, as well as broader prioritization of available resources within the division,” the department added.
This is not the first time that Hay River has cancelled school bus service. Ahead of the 2021-22 school year, the education authority said the service had gotten too expensive to offer.
Referencing the 2021 service cancellation, the education department spokesperson said an independent investigation found that, while financial pressures were real, the decision to fully eliminate bussing was “unreasonable and did not adequately consider key factors such as student safety, distance, access, and impacts on vulnerable students.”
Cabin Radio reached out to the HRDEA for comment, but did not receive a response before publication.
