Province vows to limit annual hikes to school fees

Any new school fees or substantial increases need the approval of Alberta’s education minister before school boards can foist them on parents, according to new provincial regulations.

On Monday, cabinet approved two regulations to rein in school fees on basic education costs and transportation as part of a $50-million promise to reduce the burden of school fees on Alberta families.

While some Calgary parents say transportation changes will double their kids’ busing fees next year, Education Minister David Eggen said those types of proposals will have to make it across his desk first.

“I really don’t think I would approve that,” Eggen said in an interview Monday.

The new rules say a school board needs ministerial OK before hiking any fee more than five per cent.

As promised when the government introduced Bill 1, An Act to Reduce School Fees, the regulations say schools are forbidden from charging fees for textbooks, workbooks, photocopying, printing or paper supplies. School boards must also cover the cost of busing students who live more than 2.4 kilometres away from their designated school, and who are enrolled in special education programs.

Included in the free busing category are tots enrolled in government-funded early-education programs, such as pre-kindergarten.

Edmonton Public school students are paying between $240 and $470 a year for school buses or transit passes. Catholic students are paying between $320 and $500 a year.

Families who live outside school attendance areas or who live closer than 2.4 kilometres to school may still be charged transportation fees. This limit has irked some families, who say they’re being penalized for choosing specialty programs such as French immersion or Mandarin bilingual classes.

Those busing limits may not be permanent, Eggen hinted Monday. More announcements on the government’s next steps on chipping away at the fees, which can vary substantially by school or district, could come within weeks, he said.

“I want to tackle more sort of a sense of universality in paying for (students) being bused to school, for sure. I know it’s a lot more expensive to try and cover the whole thing,” Eggen said.

Eggen unveiled the details of the regulations at a Monday evening meeting in Red Deer of school board trustees from across Alberta.

The new regulations say each school board must publish its schedule of school fees, and how families may apply for waivers or refunds, in a visible place on its website.

They also give the minister the power to impose “penalty or sanction” against any board that attempts to sneak a new school fee or big increase past the minister without approval.

Any surplus fees collected must be used to cover similar costs in subsequent years. Charter schools are not subject to the school fee restrictions.

Eggen also said he is looking at tweaking the provincial funding formula that determines how the province funds school boards. As enrolment in some rural school divisions declines, schools must still maintain a high quality of education, he said.

I want to tackle more sort of a sense of universality in paying for (students) being bused to school, for sure.