Edmonton Catholic school board trustees have backtracked on suspending school fees, after deciding to eliminate them less than a year ago.
In March, the board voted to suspend school fees for the 2016/17 school year. But on Tuesday, the board voted unanimously to bring back school fees for the 2017/18 school year.
Board chair Laura Thibert said the school district couldn’t continue to pay the $3.9 million that it cost to cover the fees.
Board chair Laura Thibert admits she’s hearing feedback from parent who aren’t happy with the move. (Travis McEwan/CBC)
“We wanted to take it as a test pilot to see how the schools are able to cope with not having school fees, and it’s not sustainable,” Thibert said.
“We’re looking at the education of not just today but the future of our students, so it’s best to bring it back now so our parents have less to pay because of the new structure.”
Supplementary fees for the 2017/18 school year differ based on the grade level of the student, however they remain the same for every Catholic school in the district.
| Kindergarten | $35 |
| Grade 1-6 | $65 |
| Grade 7-9 | $80 |
| Grade 10-12 | $150 |
Parents will not have to pay for locks or agendas. The fees do not cover field trips or extracurricular courses.
Many parents CBC News spoke to in March were happy about the suspension of fees for this current school year.
Education Minister Dave Eggen applauded the suspension of fees at that time.
Thibert admits she’s hearing feedback from parent who aren’t happy with the move, but she predicts that they will be happy in the long run.
“When it comes to having a consistent price throughout all levels of education, I think parents are going to be able to understand what the money is being used for,” Thibert said.
“The new policy has room to make sure that the money that we’re spending is going to be transparent and parents are going to know [where it’s going].”
Support for youth vote in civic elections
The board also approved a motion to write a letter to the province’s Minister of Municipal Affairs in support of lowering the voting age to 16 years old for civic elections.
It was a close vote at 4-3, with some trustees voicing their disagreement.
“What is the rush to have these children, students, making a decision on my taxes?” trustee Larry Kowalczyk asked the board.
“If one student was voted on city council, they would be voting for a skateboard park and not voting for the streets in the outer areas.”
Trustee Marilyn Bergstra disagreed.
“If we feel that young people can’t think than honestly, what is the whole premise behind education?” She said.
“They can think in a logical way. They can use abstract thought.”