The transportation review by the school board's ad hoc committee is a start, but it doesn't solve all the problems.That was the general feeling around the school board table Tuesday, as trustees received recommendations.The committee proposed that district staff build and cost the busing routes for 2011-12 on the criteria that bell schedules be co-ordinated, that a bus pass system be implemented for all students, that discretionary riders be charged $15 per month and that walk limits be revised and set where the district maintains the savings of two bus routes — and that those savings then are used to fund regional bus passes to the level where the overall transportation budget remains at the current level.The board approved that staff develop the bus routes based on this criteria and bring them back to the board, but there was much discussion about the review.The committee did not recommend providing busing for choice programs such as French Immersion."There was significant discussion on choice programs and busing for choice programs; however, in the end, it was not financially possible to provide busing for choice programs around the district, predominantly French Immersion, Nala'atsi, Montessori, as well as choice programs of students going from school to school," said trustee Danny White, who co-chaired the ad hoc committee. "It was not feasible to fund that sort of thing and still be able to deliver programs for the students."Trustee Sheila McDonnell was one of the trustees on the ad hoc committee, and she did not think their work was complete."Our review was not, to my thinking, very thorough," she said. "I don't think we had adequate information to look at a number of scenarios; I don't think we addressed in any way, shape or form many of the values that underline ... I think to simply say it would be too expensive if we opened it up to discretionary riders and so that's all our budget and that's that does not address the feedback we got from the public or the comments that some of the trustees made."McDonnell feels more work needs to be done.Trustee Corinne McLellan sat on the committee, and she agreed with a lot that McDonnell said.But she also saw this motion as a "living, breathing document.""It's a much more complicated puzzle than you can possibly imagine, and I'm not sure we can solve all the problems until we start putting the border up," she said. "For me, the border is what does it look like when we align the bells and have a bus pass and talk to the city bus system, and then from there, we can further our discussion. We need at least something in place for September...."Trustee Fran Goldberg voted against developing the bus routes based on the criteria presented."I think we're closer, but unfortunately, I don't think we're there yet," she said. "I think there are some of the major concerns we haven't addressed, and that still is the problem of there are a number of students who have difficulty getting to school due to the combination of distance and lack of public transit where they are. That's something that precipitated the discussion to begin with, and I think to really close the loop, we need to address those initial concerns."Board chair Susan Barr did not think the recommendation was "optimal at all" but she did support the motion "with real reluctance."writer@comoxvalleyrecord.com