Introduction:

The issue of ‘school fees’ charged to parents has become increasingly controversial over the last two years. Up to September 2000, the majority of parents paid fees as a matter of course, while the school worked with those who had financial difficulties to either arrange payment in installments or, in some cases, to waive the fees and absorb them into the school’s budget.

In the news release of September 20, 2000, then Acting Minister of Education Beaton Tulk informed parents that fees are ‘voluntary’. This has had major repercussion in schools. A greater proportion of parents are opting not to pay fees, having been told they are ‘voluntary’. This includes not only parents who have financial difficulty paying fees, but also those who decline to pay on principle, having contributed to education through their taxes.

In a joint press release with NLFSC, September 2001, Minister Foote qualified Minister Tulk’s statements, explaining that fees are voluntary only in the sense that students whose parents are unable to pay school fees will nonetheless have access to all programs. These statements helped, but did not completely reverse the trend, and many parents are still opting not to pay school fees, leaving many schools in a difficult position.

In many schools, the amount of money taken in from parents through school fees is larger than the amount of money allotted to the school by the school board. Schools without access to these funds may have to eventually eliminate services to compensate.

Definition of ‘School Fees’:

For members of School Councils across this province, the interpretation of fees has created much conflict.

The term ‘school fees’ has resulted in considerable confusion among educators and parents. �sic fee’, ‘course fee’, ‘supplies fee’, ‘fee for field trips’, ‘fees for extracurricular activities’, ‘voluntary levy’, are all terms that are used, if not interchangeably, then indiscriminately.

The most disturbing confusion for the NLFSC is the one between ‘school fees’ as defined in Section 13 of the Schools Act, and the ‘voluntary levy’, as defined in Section 26(4). School councils may approve a ‘levy’, which is voluntary, in addition to or in lieu of fundraising in the school. There is no connection between this ‘voluntary levy’ and any other ‘school fees’. By the Act, school councils have no mandated responsibility for the ‘school fees’ defined in Section 13. This distinction is constantly misunderstood and misrepresented at all levels of school governance.

Therefore, for the purposes of this document, we are discussing any costs charged to parents, either directly, or as a result of requirements to purchase specific materials for school use.

Inequity of School Fees:

Article 28 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, recognizes the right of the child to education, on the basis of equal opportunity and free to all, including offering financial assistance in case of need.

The NLFSC feels it is indisputable that charging parents fees for education contravenes the spirit of the Convention. It leads to inequities between schools, as some are located in socio-economic areas which allow them to more easily collect fees, thus offer more and better programs. It is demeaning to parents who have financial difficulty in paying the fees to approach the school to discuss these very personal challenges.

This is also a concern in other sectors of the community particularly those who work with parents in need, as evidenced in the remarks of Mr. Mike Wadden, Executive Director of MacMorrin Community Centre, on November 26, 2001, at a luncheon organized by the Community Services Council. He said:

At the same time that more children are living in poverty, we are seeing shifts away from the concept of universal access to opportunity in this country and province. This is evident in the increase in fees and costs associated with living in our society. Are we moving to a two-tier health and legal system, educational or recreational system? It is my opinion that we are already there. From my perspective, the demands placed, on families for books, school fees, field trips and other expenses are the most obvious example of the encroachment of this two-tier system. These costs affect the most vulnerable members in our society the most. The education system is supposed to be a place of hope where the only thing that matters are a persons’ skill and drive to succeed. Poverty reduces opportunity these types of fees contribute to the lack of opportunity. They are short sighted and counter productive to the real purpose of the education system.

The NLFSC proposes the following basic principles:

• No student should be excluded from any activity held within school hours due to failure to pay requested charges:;
• Any policies or procedures adopted by the Department of Education, school boards and schools should be non-stigmatizing;
• Extracurricular activities should be structured to ease the financial burden on individual families as much as possible;
• Schools should respect the dignity of all children so that none are caused to feel different from others because of monies expected by schools from parents.
  

Notwithstanding the above, NLFSC is aware that a sudden elimination of charges to parents would have a crippling effect on schools. This document proposes strategies to halt the escalation of school fees, to manage them while they exist, and to work towards their reduction and/or elimination

School Fees and Fundraising:

There cannot be a discussion of school fees without reference to fundraising. Parents acknowledge the need for fundraising for ‘extras’. The problems arise in the definition by various parties as to what should be considered an ‘extra’.

Raising money for instructional purposes or basic education items sometimes may be necessary in a small school due to the amount of money that school receives.

It is desirable that participation in fundraising activities be voluntary, however, in some instances such as extra and discretionary high school graduation ceremonies, everyone participating could be expected to fundraise. Where participation in an activity or event is requisite upon fundraising, the student should have the option of not participating in the activity or event without stigma.

It is recognized that there is a need for flexibility within schools to use monies, however, we would like to see more consistency throughout the province.

Recommendation:
The Department of Education, institute a provincial policy, developed in conjunction with NLFSC and NLSBA, on the use of fundraised monies.

Existing Charges and Recommendations:

The following are some examples of charges to parents and recommendations of ways these charges should be addressed.

Agendas
Parents recognize the value of a well-used agenda and realize schools have been emphasizing this organizational tool. It is agreed that students need to learn the skill of organization.
Recommendation:
School Districts should search out more cost effective options, such as district or provincial bulk purchasing, if necessary forgoing individualized covers.

Clothing
Students are often required to bring gym clothing plus a second pair of ‘indoor’ shoes to school to protect the gym floor. The necessity of appropriate footwear and clothing is recognized as is the impact that using outdoor footwear would have on custodial care.
Recommendation:
Schools should be as reasonable in their requirements as possible and promote good quality over brand names. This cost should remain the responsibility of parents.

Extracurricular Activities
Schools are commended for the wide range of activities they provide to students after school hours. There are often costs associated with such activities such as transportation to sporting events or tournaments, and uniforms. All extra-curricular activities should be planned to minimize the financial burden to students and their families. Parents accept that it is sometimes necessary to fundraise for extracurricular activities. Families who chose to not participate in fundraising should be informed as to whether or not this will affect their child’s participation in the activity.
Recommendation:
These costs should remain the responsibility of parents and wherever possible, should be covered by joint fundraising of all families involved.

Fees Associated with Technology
School fees often incorporate an ‘internet connection’ fee, or a ‘printing fee’, which help offset the costs of technology (paper, printer cartridges, telephone charges for connect time, computer upgrades etc.). Parents, along with the other stakeholders in education, feel government must take a greater responsibility in this area. Schools require computer equipment, software and technical support as basic to the provision of education to students in the modern world. Though schools must be reasonable in their desire for “the latest” in technology, they must maintain a level of technology which allows students access to appropriate software and tools as well as access to the Internet.
Recommendation:
Increased support from government is needed immediately if schools in this province are to be kept up-to-date with a level of technology appropriate to a 21st century learning environment.

Field Trips
Field trips are valuable learning experiences for students. Parents support them and desire that they continue. When field trips are part of the school day, there should be no circumstances under which a student does not have the opportunity to attend, regardless of ability to pay. A non-stigmatizing system of a payment returned in a sealed envelope, would be appropriate.
Recommendation:
Schools may request money from parents towards the cost of field trips. Trips should not be planned unless the budget allows for all students to participate even if payment is not forthcoming from all parents.

Outside of School Lessons
In areas where facilities are available, swimming and skating, for example, are sometimes used as part of the physical education curriculum and parents are charged for the lessons. Though this places financial burden on some families, these programs should not be eliminated as they are valuable to many students.
Recommendation:
Schools should negotiate a reduced fee for such services and request money from parents.

Locks
Parents recognize the necessity of locks and the advantage of school-assigned locks with combinations on file. However, these are consumable only if they belong to the student at the end of the year. At present many students pay the full cost of locks that are retained by the school.
Recommendation:
Locks should be considered part of the school’s operating equipment with replenishment provisions covered in government’s annual grant to school districts.

Materials for Science, Art, Music, Home Economics, Industrial Arts etc.
Teachers often purchase materials for these courses out of their own pockets, or parents are asked to contribute towards the costs. This includes such materials as: sheet music, recorders, art paper, paints, materials for science experiments, food for cooking in home economics, and, wood for projects in industrial arts.
Recommendation:
Materials, which are required to complete the learning outcomes of the prescribed curriculum should be provided by government.

Music Performances
There are often costs associated with school choirs and bands performing in venues outside the school or competing in festivals.
Recommendation:
These costs should be covered by parents in the same way as those of extracurricular activities.

Photocopying
Materials fees are sometimes charged to help offset photocopying costs. This has increased over the years for the following reasons:

1. provincially authorized curriculum has moved to become resource-based, requiring teachers to develop, search out, or create more of their own materials, which then need to be photocopied for student use;
2. in some cases resources provided by the Department of Education no longer match the curriculum outcomes and teachers are forced to design and reproduce their own;
3. in some cases subjects and courses have not kept pace with changes in the world and teachers are forced to replace parts of text with more current materials which must be photocopied for distribution.
   

Recommendation:
Resource based learning is a policy of the Department of Education. The Department must support its policy and support schools with a portion of these expenses as part of its core funding to schools.

Programmable Calculators
The high school math curriculum requires the use of programmable calculators. Government is to be commended for recently providing high schools with programmable calculators. Problems have arisen because this was a one-time initiative without provision for replenishment. It is inevitable that some will break and others will be damaged or lost. Ideally, government would provide a yearly maintenance/replacement allowance. However, we feel this is not the highest priority.
Recommendation:
Schools should be encouraged to charge a modest rental fee for calculators to cover the cost of batteries and maintenance.

School Supplies
Parents are expected to supply pencils, pens, exercise books, geometry sets, erasers etc., sometimes of specific brands. Schools should be allowed to suggest, for example, Crayola crayons, or pencils not made in China, since these will be the best use of parents money in the long run. These suggestions are often based on teacher experience.
Recommendation:
School supplies should remain the responsibility of parents and wherever possible schools should allow parents the flexibility to shop for best value.

Texts
In the recent years the authorized curriculum has increased its emphasis on the use of consumable materials. These are still textbooks and need to be provided free of charge to schools and students throughout the province. At present this cost is often being covered by the operational budget from the Board offices to our schools. This practice takes monies away from other essential areas and must not continue..

The Department of Education states that textbooks to Grade 8 are supplied and that textbooks from 9 to 12 are subsidized by 40%. However, some workbooks such as primary math workbooks and elementary French workbooks are required for the curriculum yet are charged to parents as “consumables”. Another instance is the discontinuation of supplying junior high school novels.
Recommendation:
Government must assume total financial responsibility for the provision of textbooks and required course materials, including consumables.

Year End Graduation Events
These events can become very costly for students and their parents. It is difficult for those who are unable to attend due to financial constraints especially with peer pressure playing such a large role. Some schools have succeeded in having at least a component of the graduation affordable. Fundraising to support graduation socials should be group-based and organized in a non-stigmatizing way. One option is to make the diploma and awards presentations a part of the school day with a discretionary evening social.
Recommendation:
Schools make every effort to keep year-end graduation events as affordable as possible.

Yearbooks
Yearbooks are part of the school fee at some schools. As with other extracurricular activities group fundraising might be used to reduce the cost in a non-stigmatizing way.
Recommendation:
Yearbooks should be an optional purchase, not supported by a school fee.

Procedures in case of non-payment of school fees:

The complexity of management of school fees was compounded last year by statements made by then Acting Minister Tulk. These statements resulted in parents refusing to pay school fees on the principle of having contributed to education through their taxes. When added to the numbers who have financial difficulty paying fees, this presents increased problems for schools.

The elimination of school fees would eliminate the problem. A reduction in school fees would help alleviate the problem. However, while fees still exist, it is important to set consistent, non-stigmatizing policies across the province for their management.

Acceptable Procedures for Collection of Fees

If fees are not paid:

1) Students must not be denied access to any program or activity during the school day.
2) Students must not be denied progress reports.
3) Students must not be denied consumable materials related to course work e.g. workbooks, music books, course supplements etc.
4) Students must not be penalized for non-payment of fees by a refusal to allow purchase of other course materials, e.g. not allowing purchase of texts if general school fee is not paid

If an effort is made by a family to address the fee issue by discussing it with the administration and making arrangements, then :

1) Students should not be penalized for non-payment of fees by a refusal to allow participation in extracurricular activities.
2) Students should not be denied any materials included in the school fee.

Recommendation:
The Department of Education institute a provincial policy, developed in conjunction with NLFSC, on acceptable practices regarding the management of school fees.

Conclusion

The majority of parents do not want a situation in which schools are prohibited from charging fees that may result in the loss of valuable activities and programs. As an example, though swimming and skating may not be available in every community and therefore is not part of every school’s physical education program, students in those communities that can avail of such activities should not be prevented from doing so. The same argument might apply to certain field trips.

Parents do not want to see situations in which students are deprived of basic education due to financial difficulty. Policies and regulations must ensure that all students have the opportunity to participate in all activities during the school day regardless of ability to pay. Whenever possible, extracurricular activities should be planned to allow students whose parents are unable to pay to participate as well.

School councils realize there are many demands on public funds. However, it is imperative that Government deals with the issue of school fees without expecting school boards to absorb these costs into current budgets or through diverting money from other areas of education.

Government must take complete financial responsibility for the provision of textbooks and required course materials, including consumables. School fees should be charged only for supplementary materials. This is necessary to ensure universality in education across the province and between districts.

The NLFSC recognizes that the K-12 school system is grossly under-funded particularly when it comes to materials grants to schools. It is our strong recommendation that the level of funding to schools be increased significantly and sufficiently. Government funding changes are the only real solution.

Denise Pike
President

Hazel Hickey
Executive Director