The provincial government will hopefully ease the burden on school districts by introducing legislation this week allowing fees to be charged for some courses and materials.
Under the new legislation, school districts may charge fees: for the purchase or rental of musical instruments for a student's personal use; and for the purchase or rental of tools, materials or equipment for a student's personal use in trades training or apprenticeship programs.
A recent court ruling that limited school fees was making choices for school districts very difficult. The legislation put in place this week comes as good news for students and educators across the province, including on the Sunshine Coast.
"The big thing for us was the band program. We were looking at $150,000 for that and our budget is tight, so this is good news," said School District No. 46 superintendent Stewart Hercus. "We're still living with the court case ruling on the elective courses, courses like woodworking and photography. The photography course is $100 and that's expensive. The whole idea is being able to offer these courses to everyone for free. We'll be meeting with principals this week and we need to continue to work with them and teachers to find ways in the budget to offer these courses to all our students."
School boards will also be required to have a policy in place to enable participation by students for whom the fees may be a financial hardship.
School boards continue to be able to charge fees for the purchase of paper, writing tools, student planners, exercise books, computer diskettes and other school supplies and equipment for a student's personal use.
Bill 20 amends the School Act, which requires school boards to provide an education free of charge to every resident student of school age living in B.C. and enrolled in a school operated by a board. It also prevents boards from charging for educational resource materials necessary to participate in an educational program. "This government is committed to act on behalf of parents, students, teachers and school boards who expressed concern that programs might be cancelled because of a recent court ruling that limited school fees, and this bill meets that commitment," said education minister Shirley Bond in a news release.
